[mercer]

Apologies for asking a question unrelated to the message of the article, but I'm a bit confused by the use of 'discomfited' in the first sentence. From my understanding, 'discomforted' seems more accurate, and is a more commonly used word anyways.

Do I misunderstand the difference between discomfit and discomfort, or did they use the wrong word?

EDIT: I suppose it might just be a matter of wanting to come across sophisticated. At a later point the article uses 'insoluble' where 'unsolvable' would've been perfectly fine and probably easier to understand for most people.

[Totoradio]

I couldn't find the author name on the page, but this choice of words seems to indicate that (s)he has a French background. "Insoluble" and "Déconfit" are french words, and "Insoluble" is a relatively common word.

[WillEngler]

The author's name is Ryan Avent. From his personal site, it looks like he's from the states and he got his MSc in London. As for discomfit and insoluble, those words strike me as being in line with the Economist's style.

[mercer]

Ah, that would make a lot of sense. Both words can be used in their context, they just stood out to me.

[InclinedPlane]

Discomfit means to make uneasy, discomfort means to make uncomfortable, physically. They are not the same word and do not mean the same thing.