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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Good Scoop by the FT

   January 22, 2009 10:25 AM

   Merrill Lynch paid out about $4 billion in bonuses just days before Bank of America took it over, the Financial Times says this morning. What raises the eyebrows is the timing: Merrill paid its bonuses before the year was even... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Solid Post Reporting on Regulation

   January 22, 2009 08:37 AM

   The Washington Post has a very good story this morning on bank regulation. It found that at least thirty banks have escaped impending consequences from the feds by switching to state charters, something that, inexplicably, is legal. Here's the... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Roubini: Banks Are Insolvent

   January 21, 2009 01:09 PM

   You know things are bad when an assertion like this doesn't seem that surprising at first glance: U.S. financial losses from the credit crisis may reach $3.6 trillion, suggesting the banking system is “effectively insolvent” That from star economist Nouriel... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Obama “Prepared” to Take on the Banks Mess?

   January 21, 2009 10:52 AM

   The most pressing question for the new administration is what to do about the banks, which are again threatening to go off the cliff. The Journal puts the prospect of nationalization in the lede of its page-one story. The... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   FT on Newspaper Ownership

   January 21, 2009 08:42 AM

   The FT has a confused story this morning on the newspaper industry. Its headline says "Newspapers turn into rich mens’ toys," but the story's primary example is The New York Times and its financing deal with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Time Counts the Bush Economic Errors

   January 20, 2009 09:54 AM

   Justin Fox at Time hits the right notes in a piece on “Bush's Economic Mistakes”. Fox lists eight big ones, but he does well to note that not all of the problems on Bush's watch were his fault and... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Nationalize the Banks or Just the Losses?

   January 20, 2009 08:21 AM

   Paul Krugman's column yesterday deserves not to get lost in the holiday/inauguration shuffle He fires back at the “bad bank” TARP-lite scheme being put forth by people like FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, who was promoted by Krugman's colleague Joe... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   The Press and Steve Jobs

   January 16, 2009 09:25 AM

   The controversy over Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health is all over the press, and with it, questions about how the media have handled. Brian X. Chen posted a piece at Wired.com Wednesday with a headline “Steve Jobs Probably Won't... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   Fortune Looks at Possible Prosecutions

   January 15, 2009 10:16 AM

   Fortune's cover story this week looks at something I've been wondering about for, oh, a year or so now: Who's going to jail? As Warren Buffett famously said, "You only find out who is swimming naked when the... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Obama’s SEC Pick Under the WSJ Microscope

    January 15, 2009 08:49 AM

    The Journal is excellent today covering Mary Schapiro, Obama's pick to head the SEC. The pick never engendered much enthusiasm, but however much it did is vanishing quickly, at least outside Wall Street C-suites. That's in large part because... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Trade Plunges; Whither China?

    January 14, 2009 09:54 AM

    The Journal fronts some interesting news this morning: Global trade is tanking, showing just how bad the U.S. economy is suffering and how much that will hurt all these hangers-on who depend on us to buy their stuff. Overall... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    A Couple of Misses on Citi

    January 14, 2009 08:47 AM

    I've got a bone to pick with the coverage this morning of Citigroup's dismantling of itself. Nowhere in Bloomberg, the Journal, or the Times is there the slightest nod to the fact that some of the key... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    To Sell Or Not to Sell

    January 13, 2009 11:24 AM

    David Carr makes a point that's so obvious but so anti-conventional wisdom that I think it bears a closer look: Newspapers (and magazines and other sources of reporting and editing) need to charge for their work. The online-ad model... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    WSJ Sees the Bright Side of Layoffs

    January 13, 2009 08:52 AM

    The Journal reaches too far for a silver lining this morning, writing that, hey, even if tons of people are out of a job, productivity may go up and increase corporate profits. In the long run, strong productivity growth... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    The Post Rips the Bush Economy

    January 12, 2009 11:22 AM

    The Washington Post is brutal this morning, as well it should be, in its post-mortem on eight years of the Bush economy. Here you go: The number of jobs in the nation increased by about 2 percent during Bush's... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    The Journal’s Late Swing at Housing’s “Baghdad Bob”

    January 12, 2009 09:57 AM

    There are a lot of folks who deserve some time in the public stocks for their doings during the housing bubble, and one is David Lereah, the much-scorned former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. We're a bit... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Audit Interview: Gretchen Morgenson

    January 9, 2009 11:30 AM

    Gretchen Morgenson is a leader of what might be called the accountability school of business journalism—a school with, in our view, all too few members. Luckily for readers, however, Morgenson has an usually prominent platform: As an assistant business and... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    LAT Scores on Health Insurance Scheme

    January 7, 2009 10:48 AM

    The LA Times gets a nice win today in its series on health insurers. The paper has run a series of tough stories by reporter Lisa Girion on the practice of "rescission" where insurers cancel coverage after patients get... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    Pearlstein Skewers Obama’s SEC Pick

    January 7, 2009 09:29 AM

    Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post is good to raise serious questions about Mary Schapiro, Obama's pick for SEC chairwoman. I think he's right on here to say she's part of the problem, and that an insider heading the... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    The Journal Goes Frontline

    January 7, 2009 08:38 AM

    If you visited The Wall Street Journal's website yesterday, you saw it touting a three-part in-house video called “The End of Wall Street: An Oral History.” First of all, applause for the ambition shown here. This, for a newspaper... Continue reading

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