[mrec]

The Economist has always been "The answer is free markets! What was the question?".

I always find it a reassuring read, in the sense that well-written, well-researched, persuasive articles that I disagree with are a sign that I haven't been completely engulfed by my own little information bubble, but take it with a pinch of salt.

[jazzyk]

I have been a subscriber to the Economist for over 25 years. In recent years, I have noticed a subtle, but noticeable, change from the small-business-friendly to the statist, big-business-friedly tone .

A look at the ownership structure may explain the shift - The Economist is now 50%-owned by big business interests

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist_Group

BTW, they endorsed B. Obama for president twice, in 2008 and 2012, who has been, despite all the populist rhetoric, very friendly to Wall Street and big business (not a single Wall Street criminal has been indicted)

I still like them, for the excellent writing, but I find myself agreeing less with them over the past several years.

[meatysnapper]

Agreed, I used to read them regularly, but found them becoming noticeably more statist. Perhaps when I was younger and less well informed (or less cynical) they just sounded better?

Given their supposedly liberal (old-school) leanings, you'd expect a criticism of large businesses which you don't find anymore.

[dublinclontarf]

Actually having lived in China for a significant period of time I can say that the answer is to remove capital controls on Chinese citizens and allow them to invest anywhere else.

This will deflate the Chinese market bubble(and property bubble) almost immediately, you'll see this happen however when pigs are flying to the moon.

[pjc50]

The answer to what question? The policy has to be to defer the bubble collapse as much as possible in hope of the mythical "soft landing". Far more than western countries they depend on continuous economic growth as the tradeoff for lack of political freedom.

[tim333]

Deferring bubble collapses doesn't work so good as they just pop later and bigger.

[spacehunt]

Problem for the next Party leader.

[eli_gottlieb]

So China should export its capital glut to the rest of the world, which already suffers a capital glut?

[tiatia]

The Economist hast declined tremendously in my opinion. Poor researched articles, very short articles with little information. You can build in 1 hour a better blog aggregation with more information. They are the Jehovah's witnesses of "free markets", or at least what the Economist thinks free markets are. Very little understanding of the underlying systemic problems we are currently facing. For me it the Economist has become "noise" in the information jungle.