[gralx]

Seconded. I subscribed to Financial Times for a year, whose prose, editorial balance, and coverage insight are noticeably inferior to The Wall Street Journal's. I also subscribed to The Economist and feel it is also inferior, but it is a weekly, so that's kind of comparing kettles and fish.

I subscribe to Noam Chomsky's opinion that the best journalism is found in the financial press because businesses need a more accurate and timely view of what's going on.

And yes, the op-eds are a blemish on the paper's outstanding journalistic reputation. It got jammed full of cronies after News Corp purchased the paper. Its workaday editorial staff remain fiercely independent, however.