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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   I Know It’s August, But…

   August 17, 2010 11:25 PM

   Did The Wall Street Journal really need to go six columns with a picture of the Colombia plane crash that killed one person? Here's what the paper looks like above the fold today: "Newsstand sales,... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Audit Notes: What If?, Middle Class Struggles, LAT on Teachers

   August 17, 2010 09:53 PM

   Barry Ritholtz has a smart post up about the what-ifs of the bailouts. As he points out, the question is not between what the outcome is versus what it would have been had we done nothing. The question is... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   The Fed’s Bubble Brains

   August 17, 2010 08:08 PM

   The Financial Times's Alphaville and Reuters's Felix Salmon take down both sides of a Boston Federal Reserve paper finding that economists who called the housing bubble were basically just lucky—"That Reasonable People Did Disagree" on whether there... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Sell That to the Judge

   August 17, 2010 10:51 AM

   Last month the SEC slapped Citigroup on the hand for misleading its shareholders—and everyone else—in 2007 about its subprime exposure. Slapped on the hand is too strong, actually. It more grazed it or tapped it than anything. I wrote... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Audit Notes: Deleveraging, Schwarzman Serves Up a Softball, PE

   August 16, 2010 07:33 PM

   Bloomberg has some excellent coverage of the bond market, reporting that despite the flood of U.S. government borrowing, overall bond issues are actually tumbling. While net issuance of Treasuries will rise by $1.2 trillion this year, the net supply... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Google as Big Brother

   August 16, 2010 01:20 PM

   Google's Eric Schmidt just can't keep his foot out of his mouth. The guy has a proclivity for giving Big Brother-like quotes to the press—which would be quaint if the guy didn't have so much access to so much of... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Audit Notes: All-L.A. Times Edition

   August 13, 2010 08:01 PM

   The Los Angeles Times takes a look at OneUnited Bank, which Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters helped get bailout money and is now facing ethics charges for since her husband was on the bank's board at the time. And yikes:... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   What Is the Social Security Trust Fund, Exactly?

   August 13, 2010 07:24 PM

   I have to confess that I've never understood the Social Security trust fund, and I suspect that you don't either. Some people say it's real and other people say it's a fairy tale—an accounting trick. This is a big ol'... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   The C-Word

   August 13, 2010 10:49 AM

   One of the business press's institutional biases is the bullish. It sells magazines, provides happy newshole for advertiser to pitch alongside, and pleases your executive sources. So it warms my cold, 90-percent-in-cash heart to see a super-negative column like... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Tom Frank Exits, Ayn Rand, Illegal Immigrants, Rubin

    August 12, 2010 11:03 PM

    Thomas Frank is the sole liberal on the Wall Street Journal's editorial pages, and one of the few liberal columnists—perhaps the only one in the major papers—to really understand where Red State America is coming from. He's a minor miracle... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    The WSJ Goes Overboard on the HP Sex Scandal

    August 12, 2010 02:41 PM

    Could you be any less interested in the Hewlett-Packard scandal? The Wall Street Journal doesn't think so. It's still throwing precious reportorial resources into keeping this tabloid-friendly story going nearly a week after it broke. Today it splashes an... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    The Crystal Ball for Chris Dodd

    August 12, 2010 12:12 PM

    Ever since Chris Dodd announced his retirement from the Senate in January, my question has been: Which part of the financial industry will he sell out to? Will he become a bank consigliere like Robert Rubin and make $15... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Overdraft Profiteering, Why the Complacency, ExecuLie Detector

    August 11, 2010 07:09 PM

    The Associated Press reports that a federal judge has slammed too-big-to-fail bank Wells Fargo for "gouging and profiteering" via overdrafts. It's going to cost Wells $200 million. In a decision handed down late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    WSJ Privacy Series Raises Questions on Google’s Power

    August 11, 2010 04:25 PM

    A lot of times you see these multipart newspaper series bring diminishing returns after the first day or two. Not so with The Wall Street Journal's excellent, ongoing What They Know package. Yesterday, Jessica Vascellaro took on the big... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Credit Due, MoJo Impact, Audit on the Radio

    August 10, 2010 10:16 PM

    In June, when I announced that Dean Starkman's "Power Problem" article had snagged a National Press Club award, I neglected to mention that it was the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism. We appreciate folks who support... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    The Journal’s Op-Ed Page In Fine Form

    August 10, 2010 02:27 PM

    The Wall Street Journal editorial page is like the proverbial fish in a barrel. If I ever lack material to criticize, I can just hop over to A16 or whatever and pick from several semi-clever, mostly misleading columns extolling the... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    NYT: Merrill’s CDO Self Dealing Kept the Bubble Going

    August 10, 2010 11:42 AM

    The late Mark Pittman told me this a year and a half ago about the fraud at the heart of the financial crisis: PITTMAN: The reporters who didn’t question the tight, tight spreads [the narrow difference in interest rates... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Poor Employers, Unions Matter, SEC Claws

    August 10, 2010 02:42 AM

    Are employers really having a tough time finding people to hire in this economy? The New York Times claimed that last month, and the Journal did it Monday. As Yves Smith says, "The subtext of the piece, however, is... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    The Economist’s Success Is Not a Marketing Story

    August 9, 2010 11:17 AM

    It's a miserable time for the press, so it's somewhat annoying to see The New York Times's take this morning on one of the very few success stories of recent years, The Economist. By now, if you follow the... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Spruced Up Reform, HAMP Failure, Cramdown

    August 5, 2010 02:06 PM

    David Weidner nails it with a piece on financial reform. I'm glad someone else agrees with me on this: Financial overhaul is the law of the land, but while it is true that the Dodd-Frank Act is a... Continue reading

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