The Economist is a British news and current affairs journal published in a weekly print magazine format and daily ondigital platforms. Variously referred to as a magazine and a newspaper,[6][7] it publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. Mostly written and edited inLondon,[8] it has other editorial offices in the United States and in major cities in continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.[9][8] The publication prominently featuresdata journalism, and has a focus on interpretive analysis overoriginal reporting, to both criticism and acclaim.
Founded in 1843,The Economist was first circulated by Scottish economistJames Wilson to muster support for abolishing the BritishCorn Laws (1815–1846), a system of importtariffs. Over time, the newspaper's coverage expanded further intopolitical economy and eventually began running articles on current events, finance, commerce, and British politics. Throughout the mid-to-late 20th century, it greatly expanded its layout and format, adding opinion columns, special reports,political cartoons,reader letters, cover stories, art critique, book reviews, and technology features. The paper is recognisable by itsfire engine redmasthead (nameplate) and illustrated, topical covers. Individual articles are written anonymously, with nobyline, in order for the paper to speak as one collective voice. It is supplemented by its sister lifestyle magazine,1843, and a variety of podcasts, films, and books. It is considered anewspaper of record in the UK.[10]
Theeditorial stance ofThe Economist primarily revolves aroundclassical,social, and most notablyeconomic liberalism. It has supportedradical centrism, favouring policies and governments that maintaincentrist politics. The newspaper typically champions economic liberalism, particularly free markets, free trade, free immigration, deregulation, and globalisation. Its extensive use ofword play and high subscription price has linked the paper with a high-income elite readership, drawing both positive and negative connotations.[8][11] In line with this, it claims to have an influential readership of prominent business leaders and policy-makers.[12]
Scottish economistJames Wilson founded the newspaper to "take part in a severe contest between intelligence ... and ... ignorance". Its first issue (right) was published on 2 September 1843 as abroadsheet newspaper before transitioning into aperfect-bound weekly paper in 1971; the paper currently uses astapled magazine format.
The Economist was founded by the British businessman and bankerJames Wilson in 1843, to advance the repeal of theCorn Laws, a system of import tariffs.[13][14] Aprospectus for the newspaper from 5 August 1843 enumerated thirteen areas of coverage that its editors wanted the publication to focus on:[15]
Originalleading articles, in which free-trade principles will be most rigidly applied to all the important questions of the day.
Articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties.
An article on the elementary principles ofpolitical economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue and taxes.
Parliamentary reports, with particular focus on commerce, agriculture and free trade.
Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade.
Commercial topics such as changes in fiscal regulations, the state and prospects of the markets, imports and exports, foreign news, the state of the manufacturing districts, notices of important new mechanical improvements, shipping news, the money market, and the progress of railways and public companies.
Agricultural topics, including the application of geology andchemistry; notices of new and improvedimplements, state of crops, markets, prices, foreign markets and prices converted into English money; from time to time, in some detail, the plans pursued in Belgium, Switzerland, and other well-cultivated countries.
Colonial and foreign topics, including trade, produce, political and fiscal changes, and other matters, includingexposés on the evils of restriction and protection, and the advantages of free intercourse and trade.
Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation.
A commercialgazette, with prices and statistics of the week.
Wilson described it as taking part in "a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress", a phrase which still appears on itsimprint (US: masthead) as the publication's mission.[16] It has long been respected as "one of the most competent and subtle Western periodicals on public affairs".[17] It was cited byKarl Marx in his formulation of socialist theory because Marx felt the publication epitomised the interests of the bourgeoisie.[18] He wrote that "the LondonEconomist, the European organ of the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of this class."[19] In 1915, revolutionaryVladimir Lenin referred toThe Economist as a "journal that speaks for British millionaires".[20] Additionally, Lenin stated thatThe Economist held a "bourgeois-pacifist" position and supported peace out of fear ofrevolution.[21]
In thecurrency disputes of the mid-nineteenth century, the journal sided with the Banking School against theCurrency School. It criticised theBank Charter Act 1844 which restricted the amount of bank notes that the Bank of England could issue on the basis of Currency School policy encouraged byLord Overstone, that eventually developed intomonetarism. It blamed the 1857 financial crisis in Britain on 'a certain class ofdoctrinaires' who 'refer every commercial crisis and its disastrous consequences to "excessive issues of bank notes".[22][23] It identified the causes of thefinancial crisis as variations ininterest rates and a build-up of excessfinancial capital leading to unwiseinvestments.[22][23]
A panel of journalists and public policy leaders atThe Economist's 2019 India Summit
In 1920, the paper's circulation rose to 6,170. In 1934, it underwent its first major redesign. The currentfire engine red nameplate was created byReynolds Stone in 1959.[24] In 1971,The Economist changed its largebroadsheet format into a smallermagazine-style perfect-bound formatting.[25] In 1981 the publication introduced a North American edition after publishing the British edition since 1843; its circulation had increased more than tenfold by 2010.[8] In January 2012,The Economist launched a new weekly section devoted exclusively to China, the first new country section since the introduction of one on the United States in 1942.[26]
In 1991,James Fallows argued inThe Washington Post thatThe Economist used editorial lines that contradicted the news stories they purported to highlight.[27] In 1999,Andrew Sullivan complained inThe New Republic that it uses "marketing genius"[28] to make up for deficiencies in original reporting, resulting in "a kind ofReader's Digest"[29] for America's corporate elite.[29][30]The Guardian wrote that "its writers rarely see a political or economic problem that cannot be solved by the trusted three-card trick of privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation".[31]
In 2005, theChicago Tribune named it the best English-language paper noting its strength in international reporting where it does not feel moved to "cover a faraway land only at a time of unmitigated disaster" and that it kept a wall between its reporting and its more conservative editorial policies.[32] In 2008,Jon Meacham, former editor ofNewsweek and a self-described "fan", criticisedThe Economist's focus on analysis over original reporting.[33] In 2012,The Economist wasaccused of hacking into the computer of JusticeMohammed Nizamul Huq of theBangladesh Supreme Court, leading to his resignation as the chairman of theInternational Crimes Tribunal.[34][35] In August 2015,Pearson sold its 50% stake in the newspaper to the ItalianAgnelli family's investment company,Exor, for £469 million (US$531 million) and the paper re-acquired the remaining shares for £182 million ($206 million).[36][37]
Pearson plc held a 50% shareholding viaThe Financial Times Limited until August 2015. At that time, Pearson sold their share in the Economist. TheAgnelli family's Exor paid £287m to raise their stake from 4.7% to 43.4% while the Economist paid £182m for the balance of 5.04m shares which will be distributed to current shareholders.[37] Aside from the Agnelli family, smaller shareholders in the company includeCadbury,Rothschild (21%),Schroder,Layton and other family interests as well as a number of staff and former staff shareholders.[37][43] Aboard of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. The Economist Newspaper Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary ofThe Economist Group. SirEvelyn Robert de Rothschild was chairman of the company from 1972 to 1989.
AlthoughThe Economist has a global emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough ofWestminster.[44] However, due to half of all subscribers originating in the United States,The Economist has core editorial offices and substantial operations inNew York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andWashington D.C.[45][46]
Theeditor-in-chief, commonly known as simply "the Editor", ofThe Economist is charged with formulating the paper's editorial policies and overseeing corporate operations. Since its 1843 founding, the editors have been the following:
Although it has many individual columns, by tradition and current practice the newspaper ensures a uniform voice—aided by the anonymity of writers—throughout its pages,[50] as if most articles were written by a single author, which may be perceived to display dry, understated wit, and precise use of language.[51][52]The Economist's treatment of economics presumes a working familiarity with fundamental concepts of classical economics. For instance, it does not explain terms likeinvisible hand,macroeconomics, ordemand curve, and may take just six or seven words to explain the theory ofcomparative advantage. Articles involving economics do not presume any formal training on the part of the reader and aim to be accessible to the educated layperson. It usually does not translate short French and German quotes or phrases but describes the business or nature of even well-known entities, writing, for example, "Goldman Sachs, an investment bank".[53]The Economist is known for its extensive use ofword play, including puns, allusions, and metaphors, as well as alliteration and assonance, especially in its headlines and captions. This can make it difficult to understand for those who are not native English speakers.[54]
Widely considered as a magazine[6], The Economist has traditionally and historically persisted in referring to itself as a "newspaper",[7][55] rather than a "news magazine", despite its switch from broadsheet toperfect-binding format in 1971. On its website the Economist itself clarifies: "By the time the transformation from newspaper to magazine format had been completed, the habit of referring to ourselves as "this newspaper" had stuck."[56]
The Economist's articles often take a definite editorial stance and almost never carry abyline.[57] Not even the name of the editor is printed in the issue. It is a long-standing tradition that an editor's only signed article during their tenure is written on the occasion of their departure from the position. The author of a piece is named in certain circumstances: when notable persons are invited to contribute opinion pieces; when journalists ofThe Economist compile special reports (previously known as surveys); for the Year in Review special edition; and to highlight a potentialconflict of interest over a book review. The names ofThe Economist editors and correspondents can be located on the media directory pages of the website.[58] Online blog pieces are signed with the initials of the writer and authors of print stories are allowed to note their authorship from their personal web sites.[59] One anonymous writer ofThe Economist observed: "This approach is not without its faults (we have four staff members with the initials 'J.P.', for example) but is the best compromise between total anonymity and full bylines, in our view."[60] According to one academic study, the anonymous ethos of the weekly has contributed to strengthening three areas forThe Economist: collective and consistent voice, talent and newsroom management, and brand strength.[61]
The editors say this is necessary because "collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists",[62] and reflects "a collaborative effort".[63] In most articles, authors refer to themselves as "your correspondent" or "this reviewer". The writers of the titled opinion columns tend to refer to themselves by the title (hence, a sentence in the "Lexington" column might read "Lexington was informed..."). American author and long-time readerMichael Lewis criticised the paper's editorial anonymity in 1991, labelling it a means to hide the youth and inexperience of those writing articles.[27] Although individual articles are written anonymously, there is no secrecy over who the writers are, as they are listed onThe Economist's website, which also provides summaries of their careers and academic qualifications.[64] In 2009, Lewis included multipleEconomist articles in his anthology about the2008 financial crisis,Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity.[65]
John Ralston Saul describesThe Economist as a newspaper that "hides the names of the journalists who write its articles in order to create the illusion that they dispense disinterested truth rather than opinion. This sales technique, reminiscent of pre-Reformation Catholicism, is not surprising in a publication named after the social science most given to wild guesses and imaginary facts presented in the guise of inevitability and exactitude. That it is the Bible of the corporate executive indicates to what extent received wisdom is the daily bread of a managerial civilization."[66]
A stack ofEconomist papers, ordered by publication date, 2020
The Economist's primary focus is world events, politics and business, but it also runs regular sections on science and technology as well as books and the arts. Approximately every two weeks, the publication includes an in-depth special report (previously calledsurveys) on a given topic.[67] The five main categories are Countries and Regions, Business, Finance and Economics, Science, and Technology. The newspaper goes to press on Thursdays, between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. GMT, and is available at newsagents in many countries the next day. It is printed at seven sites around the world.
Since July 2007, there has also been a complete audio edition of the paper available 9 pm London time on Thursdays.[68] The audio version ofThe Economist is produced by the production companyTalking Issues. The company records the full text of the newspaper inMP3 format, including the extra pages in the UK edition. The weekly 130 MB download is free for subscribers and available for a fee for non-subscribers. The publication's writers adopt a tight style that seeks to include the maximum amount of information in a limited space.[69]David G. Bradley, publisher ofThe Atlantic, described the formula as "a consistent world view expressed, consistently, in tight and engaging prose".[70]
The Economist frequently receives letters from its readership in response to the previous week's edition. While it is known to feature letters from senior businesspeople, politicians, ambassadors, and spokespeople, the paper includes letters from typical readers as well. Well-written or witty responses from anyone are considered, and controversial issues frequently produce a torrent of letters. For example, the survey ofcorporate social responsibility, published January 2005, produced largely critical letters fromOxfam, theWorld Food Programme,United Nations Global Compact, the Chairman ofBT Group, an ex-Director ofShell and the UKInstitute of Directors.[71]
In an effort to foster diversity of thought,The Economist routinely publishes letters that openly criticize the paper's articles and stance. AfterThe Economist ran a critique ofAmnesty International in its issue dated 24 March 2007, its letters page ran a reply from Amnesty, as well as several other letters in support of the organisation, including one from the head of theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights.[72] Rebuttals from officials within regimes such as the Singapore government are routinely printed, to comply with localright-of-reply laws without compromising editorial independence.[73]
Letters published in the paper are typically between 150 and 200 words long and had the now-discontinued salutation 'Sir' from 1843 to 2015. In the latter year, upon the appointment of Zanny Minton Beddoes, the first female editor, the salutation was dismissed; letters have since had no salutation.[citation needed] Prior to a change in procedure, all responses to online articles were published in "The Inbox".[citation needed]
The publication runs several opinion columns whose names reflect their topic:
Bagehot (Britain): named forWalter Bagehot, 19th-century British constitutional expert and the third editor ofThe Economist.[74] First published in 1989, since 2022, it has been written by Duncan Robinson, who succeededAdrian Woolridge.[75]
Banyan (Asia): named for thebanyan tree, this column was established in April 2009 and focuses on various issues across the Asian continent and is written byDominic Ziegler.
Buttonwood (Finance): named for thebuttonwood tree where earlyWall Street traders gathered. Until September 2006 this was available only as an on-line column, but it is now included in the print edition. Since 2018, it is written by John O'Sullivan, succeeding Philip Coggan.[76]
Chaguan (China): named for Chaguan, the traditional Chinese Tea houses inChengdu, this column was established on in September 2018.[77] It was previously written byDavid Rennie, but has been suspended until the Economist has a new resident columnist in Beijing.
Charlemagne (Europe): named forCharlemagne, the firstHoly Roman Emperor. It is written by Stanley Pignal, the Economist's Brussels bureau chief.[78] It has previously been written by Jeremy Cliffe[79] and earlier it was written by David Rennie (2007–2010) and by Anton La Guardia[80] (2010–2014).
Johnson (language): named forSamuel Johnson, this column returned to print publication in 2016 and covers language. It is written byRobert Lane Greene.
Schumpeter (Business): named for the economistJoseph Schumpeter, this column was established in September 2009 and is written by Patrick Foulis.
The Telegram (International): named after theLong Telegram written byGeorge Kennan, this column has a focus on geopolitics. It is written byDavid Rennie and was established in November 2024.[83]
Free Exchange (Economics): a general economics column, frequently based on academic research, replaced the columnEconomics Focus in January 2012
Obituary (recent death): since 2003 it has been written byAnn Wroe.[84]
Every three months,The Economist publishes atechnology report calledTechnology Quarterly, or simply,TQ, a special section focusing on recent trends and developments in science and technology.[85][86] The feature is also known to intertwine "economic matters with a technology".[87] TheTQ often carries a theme, such asquantum computing orcloud storage, and assembles an assortment of articles around the common subject.[88][89]
In September 2007,The Economist launched a sisterlifestyle magazine under the titleIntelligent Life as a quarterly publication. At its inauguration it was billed as for "the arts, style, food, wine, cars, travel and anything else under the sun, as long as it's interesting".[90] The magazine focuses on analysing the "insights and predictions for theluxury landscape" across the world.[91] Approximately ten years later, in March 2016, the newspaper's parent company,Economist Group, rebranded the lifestyle magazine as1843, in honour of the paper's founding year. It has since remained at six issues per year and carries the motto "Stories of An Extraordinary World".[90] UnlikeThe Economist, the author's names appear next to their articles in1843.[92]
1843 features contributions fromEconomist journalists as well as writers around the world and photography commissioned for each issue. It is seen as a market competitor toThe Wall Street Journal'sWSJ. and theFinancial Times'FT Magazine.[93] Since its March 2016 relaunch, it has been edited by Rosie Blau, a former correspondent forThe Economist.[94]
In May 2020 it was announced that the1843 magazine would move to a digital-only format.[95]
The paper also produces two annual reviews and predictive reports titledThe World In [Year] andThe World If [Year] as part of theirThe World Ahead franchise.[96] In both features, the newspaper publishes a review of the social, cultural, economic and political events that have shaped the year and will continue to influence the immediate future. The issue was described by the American think tankBrookings Institution as "The Economist's annual [150-page] exercise inforecasting".[97] Translated versions ofThe World In [Year] are distributed, e.g. byJang Group in Pakistan (Urdu)[98] en byRoularta in Flanders (Dutch)[99].
In 2013,The Economist began awarding a 'Country of the Year' in its annual Christmas special editions. Selected by the newspaper, this award recognises the country that was 'most improved' over the preceding year.
In addition to publishing its main newspaper, lifestyle magazine, and special features,The Economist also produces books with topics overlapping with that of its newspaper. The weekly also publishes a series of technical manuals (or guides) as an offshoot of itsexplanatory journalism. Some of these books serve as collections of articles and columns the paper produces.[114] Often columnists from the newspaper write technical manuals on their topic of expertise; for example, Philip Coggan, a finance correspondent, authoredThe Economist Guide to Hedge Funds (2011).[115]
The paper publishesbook reviews in every issue, with a large collective review in their year-end (holiday) issue – published as "The Economist's Books of the Year".[116] Additionally, the paper has its ownin-house stylebook rather than following an industry-wide writing style template.[117] AllEconomist writing, and publications followThe Economist Style Guide, in various editions.[118][119]
The Economist sponsors a wide array of writing competitions and prizes throughout the year for readers. In 1999,The Economist organised a global futurist writing competition,The World in 2050. Co-sponsored byRoyal Dutch/Shell, the competition included a first prize of US$20,000 and publication inThe Economist's annual flagship publication,The World In.[120] Over 3,000 entries from around the world were submitted via a website set up for the purpose and at various Royal Dutch Shell offices worldwide.[120] The judging panel included Bill Emmott,Esther Dyson, SirMark Moody-Stuart, andMatt Ridley.[121]
In the summer of 2019, they launched the Open Future writing competition with an inaugural youth essay-writing prompt aboutclimate change.[122] During this competition the paper accepted a submission from anartificially-intelligent computer writing program.[123]
In 2014The Economist launched its short-form news app Espresso. The product offers a daily briefing from the editors, published every day of the week except Sunday. The app is available to paid subscribers and as a separate subscription.[128]
The presence ofdata journalism inThe Economist can be traced to its founding year in 1843. Initially, the weekly published basicinternational trade figures and tables.[129][130] The paper first included a graphical model in 1847—a letter featuring an illustration of various coin sizes—and its firstnon-epistolary chart—a tree map visualising the size of coal fields in America and England—was included in November 1854.[129] This early adoption of data-based articles was estimated to be "a 100 years beforethe field's modern emergence" byData Journalism.com.[130] Its transition from broadsheet tomagazine-style formatting led to the adoption of coloured graphs, first in fire-engine-red during the 1980s and then in a thematic blue in 2001.[129]TheEconomist's editors and readers developed a taste for more data-driven stories throughout the 2000s.[129] Starting in the late-2000s, the paper began to publish more and more articles that centred solely on charts, some of which were published online every weekday.[129] These "daily charts" are typically followed by a short, 500-word explanation. In September 2009,The Economist launched aTwitter account for their Data Team.[131]
In 2015, the data-journalism department—a dedicated team of data journalists, visualisers and interactive developers—was created to head up the paper's data journalism efforts.[132] The team's output soon included election forecasting models, covering the French presidential elections of 2017 and 2022 and the US presidential and congressional elections in 2020, among others. In late-2023, the data team advertised for a political data scientist to bolster its political forecasting efforts. In order to ensure transparency in the team's data collection and analysisThe Economist maintains a corporateGitHub account to publicly disclose their models and software wherever possible.[133] In October 2018, they introduced a "Graphic Detail" featuring large charts and maps in both their print and digital editions which ran until November 2023.[134]
Historically, the publication has also maintained a section ofeconomic statistics, such as employment figures, economic growth, and interest rates. These statistical publications have been found to be seen as authoritative and decisive in British society.[135]The Economist also publishes a variety of rankings seeking to positionbusiness schools andundergraduate universities among each other, respectively. In 2015, they published their first ranking of U.S. universities, focusing on comparable economic advantages. Their data for the rankings is sourced from theU.S. Department of Education and is calculated as a function of median earnings throughregression analysis.[136] Among others, the most well-knowndata indexes the weekly publishes are:
TheBig Mac Index: a measure of thepurchasing power of currencies, first published in 1986, using the price of the hamburger in different countries.[137][138] This is published twice a year since 2006, annually prior to that.[139]
Scottish economistAdam Smith (right) and philosopherDavid Hume (left) representThe Economist's foundational beliefs oflaissez-faire policies, self-sufficiency, anti-protectionism andfree trade.
Individual contributors take diverse views.The Economist favours the support, throughcentral banks, of banks and other important corporations. This principle can, in a much more limited form, be traced back toWalter Bagehot, the third editor ofThe Economist, who argued that the Bank of England should support major banks that got into difficulties.Karl Marx deemedThe Economist the "European organ" of "the aristocracy of finance".[145]The Economist has also supported liberal causes on social issues such as recognition ofgay marriages,[146]legalisation of drugs,[147] criticises theU.S. tax model,[148] and seems to support some government regulation on health issues, such as smoking in public,[149] as well as bans on smacking children.[150]The Economist consistently favours guest worker programmes,parental choice of school, and amnesties,[151] and once published an "obituary" of God.[152]The Economist also has a long record of supportinggun control.[153] In 2021, it was criticized for publishing an "anti-transgender screed".[154] In 2019, The Economist received backlash for suggesting that transgender people should be sterilized. It subsequently apologized for this statement.[155][156][157][158]
What, besides free trade and free markets, doesThe Economist believe in? "It is to the Radicals thatThe Economist still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper's historical position". That is as true today as when Crowther [Geoffrey,Economist editor 1938–1956] said it in 1955.The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such asRonald Reagan andMargaret Thatcher. It has supported the Americans inVietnam. But it has also endorsedHarold Wilson andBill Clinton, and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favouring penal reform and decolonisation, as well as—more recently—gun control and gay marriage.[24]
In 2008,The Economist commented thatCristina Fernández de Kirchner, the president of Argentina at the time, was "Dashing hopes of change, Argentina's new president is leading her country into economic peril and social conflict".[165]The Economist also called forBill Clinton's impeachment,[166] as well as forDonald Rumsfeld's resignation after the emergence of theAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse.[167] AlthoughThe Economist initially gave vigorous support for theU.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it later called the operation "bungled from the start" and criticised the "almost criminal negligence" of the Bush Administration's handling of theIraq War, while maintaining in 2007 that pulling out in the short term would be irresponsible.[168] In an editorial marking its 175th anniversary,The Economist criticised adherents to liberalism for becoming too inclined to protect the political status quo rather than pursue reform.[169] It called on liberals to return to advocating for bold political, economic and social reforms: protecting free markets, land and tax reform in the tradition ofGeorgism,open immigration, a rethink of thesocial contract with more emphasis on education, and a revival ofliberal internationalism.[169]
Each ofThe Economist issues' official date range is from Saturday to the following Friday.The Economist posts each week's new content online at approximately 21:00 Thursday evening UK time, ahead of the official publication date.[170] From July to December 2019, their average globalprint circulation was over 909,476, while combined with their digital presence, runs to over 1.6 million.[171] However, on a weekly average basis, the paper can reach up to 5.1 million readers, across their print and digital runs.[171] Across their social media platforms, it reaches an audience of 35 million, as of 2016.[172]
Circulation grew steadily in its early years. In 1844, it was 1,800, 3,800 in 1850 and had risen to 4,300 by 1854.[173] In 1877, the publication's circulation was 3,700, and in 1920 it had risen to 6,000. Circulation increased rapidly after 1945, reaching 100,000 by 1970.[24] Circulation is audited by theAudit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). From around 30,000 in 1960 it has risen to near 1 million by 2000 and by 2016 to about 1.3 million.[174] Approximately half of all sales (54%) originate in the United States with sales in the United Kingdom making 14% of the total and continental Europe 19%.[45] Of its American readers, two out of three earn more than $100,000 a year.The Economist has sales, both by subscription and at newsagents, in over 200 countries.The Economist once boasted about its limited circulation. In the early 1990s it used the slogan "The Economist – not read by millions of people".Geoffrey Crowther, a former editor, wrote: "Never in the history of journalism has so much been read for so long by so few."[175]
Sections ofThe Economist criticising authoritarian regimes are frequently removed from the paper by the authorities in those countries. Like many other publications,The Economist is subjected to censorship inIran. On 15 June 2006,Iran banned the sale ofThe Economist when it published a map labelling thePersian Gulf simply as Gulf—a choice that derives its political significance from thePersian Gulf naming dispute.[176]
In a separate incident, the government ofZimbabwe went further and imprisonedThe Economist's correspondent there,Andrew Meldrum. The government charged him with violating a statute on "publishing untruth" for writing that a woman was decapitated by supporters of the rulingZimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party. Thedecapitation claim was retracted,[177] and allegedly fabricated by the woman's husband. The correspondent was later acquitted, only to receive adeportation order. On 19 August 2013,The Economist disclosed that theMissouri Department of Corrections had censored its issue of 29 June 2013. According to the letter sent by the department, prisoners were not allowed to receive the issue because "1. it constitutes a threat to the security or discipline of the institution; 2. may facilitate or encourage criminal activity; or 3. may interfere with the rehabilitation of an offender".[178]
^Lenin, Vladimir (1974).Bourgeois Philanthropists and Revolutionary Social-Democracy. Lenin Collected Works. Vol. 21. Moscow: Progress Publishers. pp. 192–193.Archived from the original on 24 November 2019. Retrieved5 January 2020 – via Internet Marxists Archive. First published inSotsial-Demokrat, No. 41, 1 May 1915.
^abRead, Charles (2022).Calming the Storms, the Cary Trade, the Banking School and British Financial Crises Since 1825. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 269.ISBN9783031119132.
^abc"About us".The Economist. 18 November 2010.Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved21 September 2016.
^abcWest, Karl (15 August 2015)."The Economist becomes a family affair".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved15 August 2015.Pearson, the education and publishing giant that has held a non-controlling 50% stake since 1928, is selling the holding for £469m. The deal will make Italy's Agnelli family, founders of the Fiat car empire, the largest shareholder ... .
^Alexander, Richard J. (1986). "Article Headlines inThe Economist: An Analysis of Puns, Allusions and Metaphors".Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik.11 (2):159–177.JSTOR43023400.
^Arrese, Ángel (March 2020). """It's Anonymous. It's The Economist". The Journalistic and Business Value of Anonymity"".Journalism Practice.15 (4):471–488.doi:10.1080/17512786.2020.1735489.S2CID216320039.
^"How to stop the drug wars"(PDF).The Economist. 7 March 2009. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2 June 2010. The publication calls legalisation "the least bad solution".
^Don Vann, J.; VanArsdel, Rosemary T. (1978).Victorian periodicals; a guide to research (First ed.). New York: The Modern Language Association of America. p. 171.ISBN0873522575.
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