Walter Bagehot was an English essayist and journalist, who served as editor of The Economist. He is best known for The English Constitution, Lombard Street, and Physics and Politics. Jacques Barzun wrote about Bagehot: “His singular genius derives from his double vision. In any conflict of persons or of ideas he was always able to see that neither side was perverse or stupid, but had reasons for militancy; and he entered not only into these reasons but also into the feelings attached. This is a rare talent, especially when it does not lead to shilly-shallying in the double-viewer's own course of action. Bagehot could always state the reasons for his choices with the utmost clarity.”
