It's an op ed for economic deregulation and tort reform, as opposed to a journalistic article. Which is not to say that op-eds don't belong in journalistic publications.
Honestly, this sounds like something liberals ought to be lining up behind, not all standing around kicking dirt because they don't like who said it. In fact pretty much everyone who isn't in the government ought to asking for this.
Or is everyone else here really arguing that unknown accusations being settled behind closed doors for often poorly- or un-disclosed amounts of money between the government and big corporations is just peachy keen? Honestly the tone of the most of the replies being made here sort of boggle my mind.
Judging the agenda of a (very good, imho) publication (as if it could have one) based on an op-ed is ridiculous. Where is the critical thought? The Economist has been around for 150 years, and if you felt like it you could find individual articles that would indicate any such "bias" you desired.
Oh well.