William Greider, a reporter, editor and popular author who examined the United States, its politics and its position in the world through an economic lens for four decades for The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Nation and other media outlets, died on Wednesday at his home in Washington. He was 83.

His son, Cameron, said the cause was complications of congestive heart failure.

Mr. Greider worked for 15 years at The Post, where he was a national correspondent, an assistant managing editor for national news and a columnist.

His writing then took a more polemical and leftward turn at Rolling Stone, where, as a columnist and national affairs editor from 1982 to 1999, he began investigating the defense establishment and challenging mainstream political and economic thought.

He joined The Nation in 1999 as the national affairs correspondent and was also a correspondent for six “Frontline” documentaries on PBS, including “Return to Beirut,” which won an Emmy in 1985.