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It's not an uncritical cheerleader, though. They do support free trade and globalisation, yes, but also drug legalisation, gun control, carbon taxes, gay marria

by FabHK 7y ago

It's not an uncritical cheerleader, though. They do support free trade and globalisation, yes, but also drug legalisation, gun control, carbon taxes, gay marriage, etc. For US presidential elections, they endorsed Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.

jjeaff 7y ago
Are you implying that because their record of presidential endorsements have a (D) after their name, we can thus infer they are critical thinkers?
- FabHK 7y ago
  No, that was a second point: The Economist is often portrayed as a right-wing or libertarian magazine, and I think that's an unfair and inaccurate portrayal. The list of endorsements supports that (unstated) point. (EDIT: typos)
  - hollandheese 7y ago
    They are a right-wing magazine (i.e. ardently pro-capitalist). Their endorsements support that idea. All of those candidates that they supported were also ardent supporters of capital.
    - skybrian 7y ago
      This is kind of a weird critique though. It's like, it's not enough for a movie critic to think some movies are bad and they should have been made better. They have to hate the whole concept of movies.
      - jjeaff 7y ago
        Or more like, to be a true critical, you can only like the stuff that no one has ever heard of. "Oh me, yes, I'm very liberal. I'd tell you about what candidate I support, but you've probably never heard of them..."
    - FabHK 7y ago
      If you want to call the candidates from the left party in the US right-wing, sure (when you look at it on a global scale, you might have a point there). But as I said, while The Economist supports free trade and free markets, they are not laissez-faire, but support sensible regulation, anti-trust, action on climate, etc. > "The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability." [1] > Is The Economist left- or right-wing? Neither. We consider ourselves to be in the "radical centre" [2] [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20090228231949/http://www.economist.com/help/DisplayHelp.cfm?folder=663377 https://web.archive.org/web/20090228231949/http://www.econom... [2] https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/... https://web.archive.org/web/20190329063026/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://web.archive.org/web/20190329063026/https://www.econo...
      - thelasthuman 7y ago
        Considering the shift in the Overton window the last 50 years in the USA, radically center is right wing.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      What exactly does an anti-capitalist look like that would be considered something that most Americans would recognize?

by FabHK 7y ago

jjeaff 7y ago

Are you implying that because their record of presidential endorsements have a (D) after their name, we can thus infer they are critical thinkers?

FabHK 7y ago
No, that was a second point: The Economist is often portrayed as a right-wing or libertarian magazine, and I think that's an unfair and inaccurate portrayal. The list of endorsements supports that (unstated) point. (EDIT: typos)
- hollandheese 7y ago
  They are a right-wing magazine (i.e. ardently pro-capitalist). Their endorsements support that idea. All of those candidates that they supported were also ardent supporters of capital.
  - skybrian 7y ago
    This is kind of a weird critique though. It's like, it's not enough for a movie critic to think some movies are bad and they should have been made better. They have to hate the whole concept of movies.
    - jjeaff 7y ago
      Or more like, to be a true critical, you can only like the stuff that no one has ever heard of. "Oh me, yes, I'm very liberal. I'd tell you about what candidate I support, but you've probably never heard of them..."
  - FabHK 7y ago
    If you want to call the candidates from the left party in the US right-wing, sure (when you look at it on a global scale, you might have a point there). But as I said, while The Economist supports free trade and free markets, they are not laissez-faire, but support sensible regulation, anti-trust, action on climate, etc. > "The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability." [1] > Is The Economist left- or right-wing? Neither. We consider ourselves to be in the "radical centre" [2] [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20090228231949/http://www.economist.com/help/DisplayHelp.cfm?folder=663377 https://web.archive.org/web/20090228231949/http://www.econom... [2] https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/... https://web.archive.org/web/20190329063026/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://web.archive.org/web/20190329063026/https://www.econo...
    - thelasthuman 7y ago
      Considering the shift in the Overton window the last 50 years in the USA, radically center is right wing.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    What exactly does an anti-capitalist look like that would be considered something that most Americans would recognize?