> And there's nothing wrong with that. But the magazine is not upfront about it. In fact it intentionally hides it from its readers. I generally agree with you

> And there's nothing wrong with that. But the magazine is not upfront about it. In fact it intentionally hides it from its readers. I generally agree with your analysis of the Economist's staff, but I wouldn't say they intentionally hide the fact that their writers have little expertise to draw on. It's like an inside joke that anyone who cares to research their editorial practices knows. I still enjoy reading the magazine from time to time, knowing full well that what I am reading about Southeast Asian demographics might have been "researched" by talking to a friend whose girlfriend just returned from a holiday in Cambodia, and just chuckle when I read an impressively argued assertion that I know is superficially true but doesn't mean what the author thinks it does. If you wanted to put out a news magazine as thick as the Economist and actually have everything in it properly researched and written by knowledgeable experts, it would probably either cost $50/issue or, more likely, go bankrupt. So instead we have a magazine that does its utmost to aspire to that ideal, but is actually written by 23-year-olds sleeping under their desks - as you say - who do write some rather good stuff, but also a lot of total baloney. It's half educational and half entertainment - and the fun is figuring out which half is which.