The holiday season is a time when many are consumed by the pressures of work and family. Shopping itself becomes one more source of stress, and too many of our presents are a response to social pressure.

Last year I wrote a column discussing some publications that would be thoughtful gifts to friends interested in politics. Several readers thanked me for the suggestions and requested a repeat of this feature.

My respondents say they have too little time for books, but still want something that challenges. I have three recommendations. Mainstream media would classify these publications as liberal, but the urge to view the political world through neat dichotomies is a symptom of the poverty of discourse these publications redress. The essays in these journals are generally concise, readable, and reflective. They often challenge opinion within the liberal and left communities.

The Progressive Populist ($18 for one year. For a sample call 1-800-205-7067) is a monthly worthy of the best aspects of our Populist heritage. The editor, Jim Cullen, devotes considerable attention to topics virtually ignored by the mainstream media. Agribusiness and family farming are regular themes. Cullen’s paper presents penetrating analyses of structural problems in the world economy. James Galbraith has explained the role of hedge funds in destabilizing the world economy and the flawed rationale of the Long Term Capital Management bailout. The media and the political process that presumably monitor these developments are also the subject of criticism. Why, for instance, in the midst of an Asian crisis that defied the wisdom of the experts, do we see the same faces on CNN, CNBC, etc.?

Cullen also emphasizes the question most high profile pundits routinely neglect: Why is our largest and fastest growing party the party of nonvoters? Through careful coverage of the issues that divide candidates, the limits of our parties and finance systems, and inadequacies of electoral arrangements, Cullen seeks to make political analysis a force for social change.

One of the economic journalists Cullen’s paper has hailed is Doug Henwood, editor of the Left Business Observer ($22 for 11 issues, call 212-874-4020). Provocative and readable essays on important but often impenetrable economic topics place Henwood in a class by himself. His knowledge of the fundamentals of markets would put a neoclassical economist to shame. He is meticulous in his attention to statistical detail and he isn’t afraid to burst leftist bubbles when necessary. His monthly newsletter has included the best analysis I have seen of the relation of stock markets to the “real economy,” readable discussions of Asian capitalism, and incisive examinations of the effects of international financial flows.

Lastly, I would be remiss without mention of a local newsletter that meets these same high journalistic standards. The Maine Center for Economic Policy’s News ($20 for one year, call 622-7381) presents careful analyses of economic trends in Maine. Its editors, Christopher St. John and Lisa Pohlmann, have worked with leading academics to produce brief, readable accounts of state budgetary issues, the state tax structure, and the effects of national trends and policies on the state economy. MCEP’s state level analysis is equal in quality to that of Jeff Faux’s highly regarded national foundation, the Economic Policy Institute.

In the midst of heated debates on welfare reform and the minimum wage, the center provides reasoned analysis of just who is on welfare and how changes in the minimum wage would affect labor market outcomes. Not surprisingly, their conclusions are controversial. Nonetheless, it would be hard to fault their commitment to open exploration of these topics. As in the case of the other publications reviewed here, the editors have made some of their limited space available to thoughtful critics.

Holidays are more likely to be a time of joy if we can enjoy a modicum of security and leisure in our lives. Achieving each will require more than individual generosity, but gifts that broaden and deepen political discourse may do some lasting good.

John Buell is a political economist who lives in Southwest Harbor. Readers wishing to contact him may e-mail comments to jbuell@acadia.net.