After 10 years I am letting lapse my Economist subscription; I first started reading in 1998 on-and-off at ESR’s suggestion, and then when I worked as chief security geek for SunPS EMEA I bought a subscription – it was a perfect resource for finding out what my customers were doing, and for keeping tabs on what management enthusiasms would be coming down the pipe.
From an IT consultant’s perspective I would still recommend it, but with belts to tighten I can’t justify the 230-odd quid for three years of “something to read when at toilet”.
After all, for the same money I could buy a Netbook and have something equally functional. 
Have you got a Kindle? The kindle edition of the Economist is only around US$125/year
Kindle doesn’t make much sense outside the USA, alas; moreover I don’t like the fact that the Economist lack a cheaper online-only subscription (eg: for the podcast – and at $125pa that’s £250 over three years, which is *also* more than having the print edition mailed to me…
e-readers and bog are not an attractive mix methinks. Not a good visual or bacterial…