Observer vs. Economist, or Yanks vs Redcoats yet again

The fraternity of American journalists who have dared speak irreverently of The Economist in public has just grown by 25%: Previous members were: Michael Lewis (soon after Liar's Poker); Richard Stengel (in his pre editor-of-Time days); "Humphrey Greddon" (not in Zuleika Dobson but in yesteryear's Spy, under what must have been a pseudonym, and if I were a New York guy I'd know who the writer really was); and me, 15+ years ago. We now welcome to the club Tom Scocca of the Observer, on the strength of this offering, which (disclosure) refers back to other members, especially Stengel and me. The 1991 Washington Post article of mine that Scocca mentions is here, and the updated intro to it is here. If I've lost track of other people who meet the eligibility standards, sorry! And, by the way, the people I've come to know from The Economist are actually very nice. You can't help admiring the feat they have pulled off.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2007/03/observer-vs-economist-or-yanks-vs-redcoats-yet-again/7550/