Why The Economist is so successful (and other insider secrets)

I see that you have several toys to keep yourself busy,” says Bill Emmott with a wry smile, even as I fumble to put away my Blackberry and cellphone, and shake hands with the former editor of The Economist.

It is almost exactly 6:30pm. Emmott is not a minute late for our meeting. I have arrived a good 30 minutes before time, an indication of both the unpredictability of Mumbai’s early-evening traffic as well as my transparent eagerness to meet a man whose work I have admired from afar. It is ironical that he sports a Leninesque beard and hairline, since the weekly he edited for 13 years is proudly—and some would say arrogantly—positioned as the voice of liberal capitalism. But then, its ironical tone has always been one of the reasons The Economist is such a delight to read.

A year ago, Emmott, 50, gave up what he still describes as the best job in the world to write a book. I open with the obvious question: What is the book about? It’s about the three great Asian powers—Japan, China and India. “For the first time ever, Asia will have three great powers simultaneously. My new book will look at how they will interact with one another,” says Emmott.

The major part of the book will deal with the strategic rivalry in Asia. Emmott believes that this rivalry will intensify as India takes off. “But this is a book about how the rivalry between these three countries can be managed; it is not about the coming war in Asia,” warns Emmott.

Of course, he will also look at how their economic ties either play upon or assuage their political suspicions. Emmott predicts that the economic rivalry between India and China will intensify in the years ahead, as India becomes a manufacturing superpower and its companies come head to head against Chinese companies in several markets.

We are sitting in the Harbour Bar at the Taj Mahal Hotel. By now, Emmott has finished with the sweetened lime and soda that he has ordered to quench his thirst. He now joins me for a glass of red wine. He makes a case for India to play a bigger role in the region. “I can clearly see the need to get India involved in Asian institutions, to get another Asian player in the framework to balance China,” he says. Japan cannot play this role because of its history and parochial culture.