The Dismal Science Alive Again - The Economist

The Economist

The Dismal Science Alive Again

Economics is sometimes dubbed the “Dismal Science” due to its interesting views on the most optimal and efficient points at which a society should operate. Enduring the lectures and mathematical equations can also give you that feel, as has been my experience.

However, there is an upside to all the numbers and theories, its application to the world. As some of my outstanding UC Davis teachers have taught me throughout my courses, there are many uses for economics; we just have to apply them in the right sense and time.

Is this magazine for me?

Are you a person who enjoys politics and business and want facts that support the articles? Do you enjoy the latest news about Science & Technology, Books & Arts, etc? Then this magazine is for you. It contains straightforward facts to support the topics, broad coverage of the important issues that affect our economy, and more.

Articles

Let us cut the gibber jabber and get to some examples from the magazine.

Power at last: It was said long ago that the consumer is king. Now, thanks to the internet, the customer has finally been crowned...

The spy game: In the wake of failures over September 11th 2001 and the Iraq war two years ago, intelligence-gathering is being reformed on both sides of the Atlantic. The task is daunting ...

As you can see from just these two article blurbs it covers various aspects that have a common tie, how they affect the economy. All of the articles are therefore geared towards this one goal. How does the new election affect the economy, how does war affect the economy, and so on…

This way the topics are not tearing you from one side to the other, but keeping you at a stance, giving you the facts and the reactions of world events and us events. There are of course editor’s columns and opinions, which I will discuss in more detail in the next topic.

Information

There are very specific main topics that occur in every issue to give you some bearing I will discuss a few of them after I list them all: Opinion, Business, World, Books & Art, Science & Technology, Markets & Data, Diversions, Finance & Economics, People, and more.

The opinion section gives articles concerning events such as the most recent, the pope’s death and what will happen next. The Science & Tech section discuss new medicines, how certain inventions and theories have stabilized the economy and so forth. The section of People describes how top CEOs, icons and others are fighting their fronts and conquering their enemies and if it is the right way to go about it. Each topic goes in-depth and not off topic. I have review HR, Business, Tech and other magazines, however in my personal opinion this tops them all. I might be biased in saying this due to my undergraduate work in Economics, however my analysis of the magazine proves that it deserves top notch.

Advertising

There is advertising, however they must spend time in deciding where to put it. In the end it seems to flow with the articles and what you are trying to find. However, I would not give them a rating of low advertising; they use lots of advertising to fund their publication. Economists aren’t cheap! Due to their design and placement strategically I give them a near perfect rating; just loose some of the advertising and it would be perfect.

Extra Features

There seems to be a wave of magazines that offer websites, the question is, does it help and is it a good website.

http://www.economist.com/

The articles that you most want to read are only summarized; you must be a subscriber to read the full content on the web. This can get aggravating if you want to read that article and click on it to find that you cannot. However there are hundreds of other articles published online and ready to read.

There is much more advertising on this site than the others that I have recently reviewed. Due to the clutter and difficulty in reading any review I give this website only an average rating. However, if you are a subscriber, it is one more feature for you. Use it, you are paying for it.

Pricing & Issues

$19.95/monthly for online account with auto renewal
$89/annual for online account with auto renewal
$129/annual for Print Edition & Online account
Student pricing may vary – Big Discount

There are 51 issues, which makes it 4.25 issues a month (a weekly publication)

In the End

The most for your money. Behind the publication is a host of well trained economists, journalists and more. They do not get their data and information from another party, they create their charts and graphs, and they develop their ideas. It is an excellent publication, great for all minds.

Regards, Jared