The Economist : A Magazine Review

The Economist magazines are one of the best magazines that cover major hot topics from all across the globe. You might consider the following things before giving it a go. I have taken the most recent issue in consideration to express my stance.

Structure and Contents

• First, there is a cover page story, like for the week of 25th June: “How to fix the world’s energy emergency without wrecking the climate?”.

• The very first content comprises Political and Business affairs, one page each is dedicated to the weeks’ headlines .

• Then there is a “Letters” section which I never read.

• The “Briefing” and “Leaders” section is the best. It consists of general topics of interest which may concern us (living in India) unlike the stories from other continents (I’ll explain in the cons).

• Each continent has its own section, with a special section for the United States.

• Then there is an International, Business, Finance & economics, Science & technology and Culture section.

Pros and Cons

The “Cover story”, “Briefing” and “Leaders” section covers topics that we must know as they correspond to a current scenario. Like the “leaders” section mentions - “Emmanuel Macron loses his majority in parliament. Can he now get anything done?”, because on June 19th, French voters denied a newly elected president a majority in the National Assembly after about 30 years. I remember reading, around February, that he might win 2 consecutive elections that The Economist predicted in an article titled: The Economist’s election modelling should cheer Emmanuel Macron.

Once a topic is picked, it continues until its denouement. This is the most impressive thing about the magazines. It's like watching the next episode of a series. You will never feel like you skipped an episode if you follow every single one.

Similarly, the Cover Story is relevant because this year’s energy shock is the most serious since the Middle Eastern oil crises of 1973 and 1979.

Another plus point is that you could be the first one to know about any new things. Long before people started talking about NFTs, I read it in The Economist. There have been so many instances when someone mentions a news and I am like- "Yeah! I read it about a week ago".

The “Week Politics” section is the most useful one because it summarises all the news and you can decide which ones to follow and which ones to leave. Eg. I may not be concerned about what's going on in Mali, but I could be concerned over the fact that “South Korea launched satellites into orbit using its own rocket for the first time”, but only to the extent of knowing just the headline. Similarly, I should be concerned about dozens of people who died in floods across north­eastern Bangladesh and India, but this may not concern someone living in Mali. (By concern here,I mean the “news concern”).

This is because the magazine has a lot of stuff that may not concern me. Sometimes, almost the entire section of other continents' news seems nugatory.

For example: The “United States” section has the following topics:

Asian-American voters

A trans-rights muddle

A petrol-tax holiday?

California’s school hours

Church and state

Uranium mining

The Biden-Harris problem

Only “A trans-rights muddle” seems germane, or maybe “Uranium mining” to some extent could be relevant. Half of the topics are too uninteresting to follow, it's like “What will I do by knowing this?”.

The other sections that are not continent based, eg. Finance and Economics, may or may not be of assistance.

Only, 2,3,5,6,7 concerns me.

In short, this is a global news magazine and I read them for no specific purpose, just for current affairs, improving comprehension skills and establishing reading habits whilst having all the tea from around the globe.Neither I’m preparing for some competitive exam that concerns all the news, nor I am someone with a high profile (those rich, knowledgeable people).

I started reading the magazine around July last year. Since then I try at least 2 issues per month. I stopped reading a few months ago because I could cover global news from any newspaper and factual articles can be covered on websites such as Aeon, Nautilus, BCC, National Geographic etc.

But The Economist articles stand out because of their greater depth and insightfulness. There cannot be any true alternative to “The Economist”, that's supremacy for sure. As a quora review says, “The Economist’’ targets serious readers and has elaborately written articles on a bevy of topics. If I had enough time to actually sit down with a cup of coffee and no other chores, I would read it.” It requires serious concentration, time and presence of mind to follow. I would still follow the magazine because the cons I’ve mentioned have no serious drawbacks with big flaws.

One more personal drawback is that it often conflicts my thoughts and my political views. But maybe it's a good thing. I get to know the same story from a different point of view. That's fun!