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Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

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Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#41

Post by eatonphil »

pron wrote: post #28

Though American and generally US-focused, The Atlantic covers a lot of world affairs, although it isn't as news-rich as The Economist.

The Atlantic's front page is so often covered with outrage pieces I decided to stop looking at it. It felt like they were constantly spinning stories to be fearmongering or anger mongering.

There are good reasons out there to fear or be angry about but I just had to stop with The Atlantic.

They do still have some great posts. I just avoid reading their homepage and only go there if linked to a post.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#42

Post by Tomte »

nivenkos wrote: post #18
montgomery_r wrote: post #3

The Spectator has - generally high quality writing - a quirky (but data driven) approach - a longer history than any other magazine - a UK focus - a right wing bent, but with plenty of left wing ( or apolitical) writers for balance. Might be a solution? I gave up on the Economist after 20years 20 years ago, for much the same reasons you state!

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-brexit-looks-like/ Just objectively that has turned out to be complete nonsense...

If you insist on "your newspaper" always to be right, you don't have many options, and not for long.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#43

Post by abm53 »

corbet wrote: post #31

I bailed on the Economist a couple of years ago after at least a couple decades...thought I was the only one who felt it had declined. I haven't really found a good replacement still. If nothing else, the pain they put me through to end the subscription was enough to prevent me from ever signing up again.

Their “customer retention” process is extremely aggressive, even by most traditional print publications’ standards.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#44

Post by mellosouls »

fergie wrote: post #25

Big fan of the Spectator and the Guardian Weekly: They the best exponents of right and left wing thinking from the UK respectively. For best results read both.

I really like this mixed spectrum suggestion; it seems rare these days for people to do that, but perhaps I'm cynical and taking too much from online shouty types.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#45

Post by rswail »

axlee wrote: post #26
williamcotton wrote: post #8

What narrative manipulation have you seen from The Economist? I haven’t noticed it so perhaps I am being manipulated! I’d love to hear your insight!

Anything that they write about France (or southern europe in general) is utter crap and often disproven by reality a few years later. It reeks of anglosaxon exceptionalism.

They were and are right about Berlusconi though.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#47

Post by specialist »

I'm fine with The Economist's Classical Liberal POV (per Adam Smith et al). I unsubscribed become of their support for the Iraq War. (Which admittedly they regretted some years later. But I won't forgive them.)

Fortunately, Western media (at least) is flush with Classical Liberal POV. So it's not like I suffered from the omission.

As for challenging and interesting and immediately relevant, I keep returning to David Roberts' Volts podcast. Explains where the rubber meets the road on the most important topic of the day, climate crisis. The explainers are just terrific. The episodes about the US's Inflation Reduction Act, the most important industrial policy legislation in a generation, have been illuminating. https://www.volts.wtf Of course, economics is central to the whole story.

As for a non-center-right take on economic issues, I'm enjoying Bethany McLean's work. Most recently her podcast Capitalisn't. https://www.capitalisnt.com (Her cohost Luigi Zingales is mostly a dink, so I speed thru his monologuing.)

I haven't really found a leftist economics narrative to consume. Two years ago, I binged on some MMT stuff. Alas, it still feels too fledgling, too exploratory. In short, I'm eager for narratives with some predictive power.

I'm almost certain u/dredmorbius can offer awesome recommendations. Their smart about about this kind of stuff.

Oh. The books Mine: The Hidden Rules of Ownership and Debt: The First 5000 Years were fun. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54226795-mine https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt Sadly, I haven't gotten to Piketty's books yet.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#48

Post by dpacmittal »

nerdawson wrote: post #30
jll29 wrote: post #21

Very timely question, I just purchased an issue of the Economist because I was toying with the idea of re-instating a previously held subscription. I share the disappointment. In the past, even just the book reviews were so good that they "forced" me to buy 2-3 of the reviewed books; that issue didn't intrigue me. I don't have an answer whether it's a general trend or not, as I'm trained not to ascribe too much weigh…

> …would like to see an alternative that is at the same quality level as the Economist (but with more neutral reporting and individual author names given)… More publications should remove the byline. Individual attribution incentivises journalists to try and stand out which typically means making intentionally inflammatory statements.

Interesting, my first thought was that attribution will add accountability and authors would be more careful of their words.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#49

Post by bmj »

esperent wrote: post #33
twoslide wrote: post #10

I think others have given good recommendations, but will add the Atlantic and New Yorker. Also agree that a problem with The Economist is that it is always overtly pushing a particular view of the view world (rooted in a faith in the rationality of markets), which is coupled with fairly strong advice/prescriptions in much of the writing.

I kinda have the exact same experience with The Atlantic as OP does with The Economist. I used to read it regularly but now it feels there's 5% good articles and 95% some kind of highbrow clickbait. On the front page now: 1. Seven books that will make you smarter 2. Whoops, I Deleted My Life 3. How Much Would You Pay to Save Your Cat’s Life? 4. The Strength of the ‘Soft Daddy’ 5. The Black Investors Who Were Burned b…

There is a difference in the online content of the Atlantic v. the print magazine. The print magazine still has some high quality content.
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