Audience Insights, Survey, and Are You Liberal or Progressive? (And Why It Matters for My Writing)

Breaking down the political spectrum for economics readers, with audience data and your chance to weigh in

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for subscribing! As of August 2025, I’ve reached over 5,480 subscribers, and I'm incredibly grateful for your support. This time last year, I had 2350.

I want to use this article to share some audience insights, recommend a few articles for newer readers, and then invite you to take a survey (18 questions). I’d love to know more about my audience. Skip any question you don’t feel like answering!

Audience Insights

Where are most of my Subscribers from?

The Top 5 countries are United States, UK, Canada, India, and Kenya.

As for the next 5:
#6: Australia (161)
#7: Germany (150)
#8: Nigeria (142)
#9: South Africa (116)
#10: France (85)

Where are most of my Subscribers from in the US?

In the US, nearly half of my audience comes from 5 states:

Articles I recommend people read:

Every month, I try to alternate between an African article and non-African article:

Here are the top 5 African articles/series I've written that I highly recommend:

Nigeria (Part I, II, III, IV, & V)
Tunisia (Part I, II, III, IV, & V)
Rwanda (Part I, II, III, & IV)
Uganda (Part I, II, III, & IV)
South Sudan

Here’s my top 5 “Original Thoughts”/Opinion Articles:

1. The Future of Immigration Policy in Europe & Africa
2. How Global Trade Works In Practice: Examining Modern Trade Disputes
3. Stealing Success: How IP Theft Built Nations
4. 21st Century Arab Monarchies and 19th Century African Kingdoms: A Dangerous Parallel
5. Thoughts about Corruption in Developing Countries

Here are the top 5 non-African articles I've written that I highly recommend:

1. India’s Comeback Story: Gold, Crisis & the IMF Deal
2. The Rise of Britannia, Part I: From Backwater to Chaotic Kingdom to Raiding Empire
3. From Communism to Oligarchy: How Russia’s Privatization Failed
4. How Deng Xiaoping of China outsmarted the IMF
5. The IMF Part 2 - How the fund actually works.

Here are the top 5 Book Review articles I've written that I highly recommend:

1. Book Review #2: Insights on Javiar Blas' & Jack Farchy's "The World For Sale"
2. How Asia Works Review: The Similarities and Differences in China’s Growth Strategy Compared to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
3. Book Review #3: Where Credit is Due: How Africa's Debt Can Be a Benefit Not a Burden
4. Insights & Book Review #4: The Globalization Myth, Why Regions Matter by Shannon K. O'Neil
5. Book Review & Insights #5: The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East and the Rise & Fall of An Idea by Shadi Hamid

Survey Data:

Note for the next question:
I’ll be asking about your social stances. Many of you may not know the difference between a social progressive vs. a liberal (You can be both!):

Let me define it clearly before you answer:
1. Liberal:

• Based on 18th-Century European Enlightenment Values: individual liberty, free speech, tolerance of dissent, and equality under the law combined with post-1960s social values: civil rights, environmentalism, and reproductive freedom.

• Focus: Equal treatment, pluralism of thought, open debate, civil rights, and reform within the system

• Belief: Rules and rights apply equally across individuals, regardless of identity. Justice means removing barriers so everyone has the same opportunities.

2. Social Progressive:

   • What some people pejoratively call “woke” or “social justice warrior”. This was the 2010s successor ideology to the 1960s social movements. This is a person who emphasizes systemic inequality, social justice, equity, group rights, and government actions to fix structural problems.

   • Focus: Cultural Change, activism against historical injustice, and structural change.

   • Belief: Identity categories (race, gender, sexuality) need special recognition and correction for past disadvantage. Removing barriers is not enough, but rather there must be active correction.

Key Philosophical Differences:

A modern liberal believes in the Rawlsian view that everyone should have the same starting line; fairness means no artificial barriers.

A social progressive believes fairness requires adjusting systems and sometimes outcomes to account for how historical and structural disadvantages continue to affect different groups.

Important Note: Most people blend both approaches rather than being purely one type. You might be liberal on process but progressive on outcomes, or support both equal treatment AND active measures to address systemic inequities. Both progressives and liberals believe in abortion access, gun control, contraception access, secularism, climate change, marriage equality, voting rights expansion, and safety nets.

Where They Often Diverge:

Free Speech: Liberals generally support broad speech protections, even for offensive speech or misinformation. Social progressives may support restrictions on speech that causes harm to marginalized communities.

Institutions: Liberals work to reform existing democratic and legal systems. Social progressives may view these institutions as inherently compromised by their exclusionary history and requiring deeper structural change.

Identity and Policy: Liberals emphasize merit and colorblind policies after removing discriminatory barriers. Social progressives may argue meritocracy has never existed and cannot exist due to historical barriers. They argue that group-conscious policies (like DEI initiatives or implicit bias training) are necessary to address ongoing systemic effects.

Examples (Not a perfect List):

• More Liberal: Jonathan Haidt, Bill Maher, Sam Harris, Steven Pinker

• More Social Progressive: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

• Aspects of Both: Barack Obama, Stacey Abrams, Raphael Warnock, Justin Trudeau, Joseph Biden

• Neither Socially liberal or “Woke”:

  • Classical Liberal: fine with 18th century liberalism, but not modern, post-1960s liberalism: Nikki Haley, Ben Shapiro, Mitt Romney

  • Not liberal even in the classical, 18th century sense: Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Curtis Yarvin, Viktor Orban, The Communist Party of China, Erdogan’s Justice & Development Party, Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front, Le Pen’s National Rally, Putin’s United Russia

With that out of the way, please answer the next question!

Questions for the comment section:

• What were your top 3 favorite articles of mine?

• What economics topic do you really enjoy me writing about the most?

• What do you think is the worst war this decade?

• What do you think I should write about?

• What would you like to see me write more of?

• What topic have I changed your mind the most of?

• What topic have I informed you the most of?

• What do you think my biases are? Or how do you think I see the world as? (I am working on an article on my bias/perspective)