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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Conflict-of-Interestism and Lewis/Einhorn

   January 6, 2009 09:24 AM

   Over at the Instaputz blog, TS raises the potential conflict-of-interest factor in Michael Lewis's op-ed collaboration with hedge fundie/author David Einhorn—something I ignored when I praised the piece yesterday (hat tip Romenesko). Upon further reflection, I still... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   WSJ’s Good Vehicle for Explaining Subprime Mess

   January 5, 2009 03:58 PM

   Just wanted to make sure you saw this great A1 story in the Journal on Saturday. Reporter Michael M. Phillips tells the tale of the subprime mortgages crisis through a single ramshackle homestead in Arizona. It's just about... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Bloomberg on the Dearth of Lending

   January 5, 2009 10:10 AM

   Bloomberg has a story on the lack of lending that Michael Lewis and David Einhorn slapped Henry Paulson around for here (bottom of the page). Although the government has committed more than $8.5 trillion to energizing... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Michael Lewis and David Einhorn on Long-Term Fixes

   January 5, 2009 09:43 AM

   It's only Monday, but I'm pretty confident this piece in The New York Times yesterday will be the must-read of the week. Journalist Michael Lewis and hedge fund manager/author David Einhorn teamed up to crank out, with the gift... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Journal Finds More Regulatory Failures on Madoff

   January 5, 2009 08:35 AM

   The Journal reports out the "serial regulatory failures" that allowed Bernard Madoff to perpetuate the bigges Ponzi scheme in history. And in a particularly nice catch, the paper finds Obama's nominee for SEC chairwoman, Mary Schapiro, has some explaining to... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Audit Rewind: Elinore Longobardi’s Best of 2008

   January 1, 2009 09:05 PM

   1) The Great Man Theory and Hank Paulson The press often seeks out and artificially creates a Big Man in times of crisis, a hero who will save us all (see Rudy Giuliani/George W. Bush, September 2001) from disaster.... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Audit Rewind: Dean Starkman’s Best of 2008

   December 31, 2008 12:13 AM

   1) The Anglo-ization of The Wall Street Journal Dean saw the Journal moving toward a more British/Australian style of journalism—one that doesn't dig as deep—and didn't like it one little bit. He was right, alas: See his latest... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Audit Rewind: Ryan Chittum’s Best of 2008

   December 29, 2008 10:44 PM

   1) My Foreclosure Two years into the housing bust, with millions put out of their houses, we sometimes go numb to the reality of what it means to lose your home. So I wrote about—with the benefit of hindsight... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   OTS Mess Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere

   December 23, 2008 10:00 AM

   The mini-scandal at the Office of Thrift Supervision is big news this morning. Apparently, a regulator allowed IndyMac to fudge its books to make it look healthier than it was. This same regulator got in trouble in the S&L... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Tracing Wall Street’s WMDs

    December 23, 2008 08:44 AM

    The Journal looks at how investments that were supposed to reduce risk by spreading it instead magnified it by spreading it to every corner of the globe, and this case to a town of 10,000 in Australia that has... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Bush Smacks Back at NYT Story

    December 22, 2008 02:32 PM

    The New York Times added another entry to its "The Reckoning" series yesterday, this one focusing on the Bush Administration's role in the housing mess. Today, Bush fired back with a blistering press release accusing the Times of... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Madoff’s Enablers

    December 22, 2008 09:22 AM

    The Times takes a smart look at one of Bernie Madoff's biggest enablers that didn't have the initials S.E.C. Fairfield Greenwich Group was a hedge fund of hedge funds—it took big fees for enabling investors to get big fees... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Bloomberg Tough on Merrill’s Thain

    December 22, 2008 08:44 AM

    Bloomberg has a tough look at John Thain, the CEO of Merrill Lynch who was brought into save the struggling firm as "Mr. Fixit", but ended up failing to do so. While he didn't create the problems at Merrill, Bloomberg... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Did Tax Cuts Help Blow the Bubble?

    December 19, 2008 09:36 AM

    The Times continues to try to lay bare the roots of the housing debacle. Today's story, part of its excellent "The Reckoning" series, looks at a Clinton-era law that eliminated most capital-gains taxers on home sales. The story is... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Audit Interview: Jack Dolan

    December 19, 2008 09:06 AM

    We at The Audit have called on the press to do more reporting on the underbelly of the mortgage industry, who fed it, and how it metastasized in the absence of government oversight. So it's nice, but all too... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    “With Its Heart Still Beating”

    December 19, 2008 08:38 AM

    The Journal has an excellent front-page "leder" today on the other rich-dude fraud of the moment: Marc Dreier, who owned a top law firm but was caught selling fake securities. The story's rich reporting gives us a clear idea... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Not-So-Sticky Wages at FedEx

    December 18, 2008 12:01 PM

    Felix Salmon of Portfolio makes a good catch today about "sticky wages", which David Leonhardt of the Times wrote about yesterday. Leonhardt wrote that companies almost never reduce wages in a downturn (thus the "sticky" adjective). Instead, they... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    NYT Putting It All Together on Wall Street Pay

    December 18, 2008 11:10 AM

    The NYT is just superb with its Wall Street-compensation story today: While top executives received the biggest bonuses, what is striking is how many employees throughout the ranks took home large paychecks. On Wall Street, the first goal was... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    More on Madoff from the Times

    December 18, 2008 09:49 AM

    The Times adds some good reporting about Madoff, too. First of all, it says that he's not going to the pen even though he couldn't hold up his end of his bail agreement. He's a lonely guy now: Federal... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    Journal on Top with Madoff/SEC Scandal

    December 18, 2008 08:39 AM

    The Journal is besting its rivals on the Madoff story. Today it has a super page-one story that reveals that the SEC had investigated the fraudster in 2006, found that he lied to them, but still did nothing. The Journal... Continue reading

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