Much debate has been had on the (public) internet about the merits, intentions and likely fortunes of The Times and The Sunday Times paywall.

At the Mandrake talking shop last night, staged by Speed’s parent firm Loewy, the editor of The Economist, John Micklethwait, had his say.

Granted, The Economist (disclosure: Speed client) is one of the grand dames of monetising editorial, given it has been charging for access to its articles and archives for years. Nonetheless, John’s views were pretty clear and forthright on the matter.

“Murdoch had no choice,” he said, explaining that the media baron has seen subscriptions and revenues slide to the point that there was simply nowhere else to go in the newspapers’ plans to make money from their words and pictures. It’s perhaps an obvious response, but interesting that rather than citing it as a bold move by a publisher wanting to make chargeable content acceptable, he seemed to dismiss it as a desperate move and one that, ultimately, may prove to be too little too late.

So is the paywall experiment paying off? Time will tell, but initial signs – technical glitches, plus circulation at a 16-year low – do not bode well.

In the furore about News Corp’s proposed big SKY deal and rivals’ attempts to founder it, the spotlight is off the paywall for the time being. Unless it starts pulling in the punters quickly, that’s unlikely to last.