I think it's safe to assume that the character referred to as 'the economist' will be revisited and we will see him/her again. The episode was named after the character and seems to be in direct opposition to Ben. So, who is it???

I'm thinking for sure it's Charles Widmore. The people on the island represent the same group that Ben is killing in the future. The people brought a picture of Desmond and Penny, which Charles could possibly get.

Penny's drive to find Desmond is the reason these people are here now (the anomoly the igloo people found). Charles intercepted that information and the rest is history, of future?? or maybe... oh no I've gone cross-eyed.

I was thinking it could be the creepy black dude. But if it were they probably wouldn't have kept it so secretive.

I think he is an "underling", a hired man. a man with power, no doubt, but
Sayid is killing the head guys, the rich and powerful.

My guess is Alvar Hanso, but it could very well be Charles Widmore.
I don't believe that Abbadon is that high, because he is doing alot of ground work and revealing his face. The higher people are up in the food chain, the less they like to be seen because those kind of people like to watch things play out. Unless it is Ben of course.

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"How stupid are you Miles?" - Jack

It seemed to me the girl Sayid romanced and eventually killed had the same bracelet as Naomi. Naomis inscription, I believe said "N, I will always be there for you, RG" RG may be the Economist. anyone know who else has the initials of RG that we have seen?

no one has those initials that i can find (after a search on lostpedia)

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Do we know Regina's last name yet? It could be her.

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" We kinda like knew that forever ago." -Hurley SE4EP8

Interesting thoughts on the Economist:

When I researched the term economist on Wikipedia. They define it as a rather vague profession that has been shared by several famous historical figures.
One of the famous names mentioned in the article jumped out at me.

David Hume: Scottish Philosopher.
We know Desmond's last name is Hume and of course he is Scottish. I am pretty sure the correlation between these two names has been drawn before.
From the article:

"Hume was heavily influenced by empiricists John Locke and George Berkeley, along with various Francophone writers such as Pierre Bayle, and various figures on the Anglophone intellectual landscape such as Isaac Newton, Samuel Clarke, Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and Joseph Butler."

He also had very in depth thoughts regarding Human Free Will and Responsibility....

To read more about David Hume:
David Hume - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course we know the producers like to throw this stuff in to keep us going crazy. It may or may not have anything to do with anything.

But, for now.....I will take it as a clue that the Economist is tied to Desmond somehow. So I will guess that it is Widmore.

It would be good if it is Richard!!!

Wow. Do you really think there gonna make us wait an entire season for another Sayid Flashfoward? At this point i think not. I think on the freighter we will see some serious action. And I think that serious action will end the episode and lead us into Episode 5. WHICH IS DESMOND TIME!