The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England.Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. While The Economist refers to itself as a newspaper, each print edition appears on glossy paper, like a news magazine. In 2009, it reported an average circulation of just over 1.6 million copies per issue, above half of which are sold in North America and English speaking countries