“Uncertainty” Trotted Out in the Journal

Business code for “we may not get our way”

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 14, 2010 at 11:12 AM

If there's one thing our titans of industry can't stand, it's uncertainty. We've seen that excuse trotted out over and... More

NYT on the Irish Mess

A private-sector crisis turned into the people’s problem by politicians.

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 29, 2010 at 11:16 AM

This New York Times lede from Friday is terrific, conveying as it does the Bizarro world of the Irish bailout:... More

WaPo Shows Geithner Pushed Austerity

A profile reports the Treasury secretary steered Obama away from jobs focus

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 8, 2011 at 02:39 PM

You can sense a surge in criticism of the Obama administration coming, both from within and from former members of... More

A Particularly Weak WSJ Page One

One-sided on the deficit, plus stale news, and a royal yawner

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 17, 2010 at 10:37 AM

Boy, this morning's Wall Street Journal page one leaves a lot to be desired. First, there's this story: States Offer... More

All But Ignoring the Fed’s Call for More Stimulus

Deficit-obsessed newspapers stuff Bernanke’s plea for near-term spending or tax cuts

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 22, 2010 at 12:51 PM

Last week, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Republican, Bush appointee, calm technocrat, called for more fiscal stimulus (government spending and/or... More

Another WSJ Deficit Plan Headline Misses the Mark

By Felix Salmon   Nov 12, 2010 at 12:18 PM

The WSJ does none of its readers any favors with its silly headline attempting to sum up the effects of... More

Another Take on NPR’s “Liberal Bias”

Its reporting on Social Security is anything but

By Trudy Lieberman   Mar 16, 2011 at 04:48 PM

It was easy to understand why a story yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered appeared to favor the Republican position... More

Audit Notes: Baffled Wall Street Historians, Too Much Demand, Deficits to Shrink

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 27, 2011 at 09:28 PM

Here's your Quote of the Day, from The New York Times's story on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report. Wall... More

Audit Notes: FCIC Report, Reuters Talking Points, WSJ Sues

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 25, 2011 at 08:07 PM

The New York Times gets hold of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report first and it seems somewhat promising. Here's... More

Audit Notes: It’s Wall Street’s Deficit, Dimon Steps In It, Red-Faced Mortgage Bankers

By Ryan Chittum   Feb 3, 2011 at 07:45 PM

Simon Johnson looks at the "Ruinous Fiscal Impact of Big Banks" over at The New York Times's Economix blog: First,... More

Audit Notes: Main Street Corp., The Do-Nothing Deficit Fix, Hugh Grant

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 13, 2011 at 09:15 PM

The Wall Street Journal runs a banner headline across the top of page one that says: Risk Rule Riles Main... More

Bernanke’s Stimulus Call Finally Makes The WSJ

Two weeks later.

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 2, 2010 at 11:46 AM

A couple of weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke issued a public call for Congress and the president to... More

Bloomberg Poll: Stick It to Wall Street

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 13, 2010 at 07:04 PM

Bloomberg News got some stunning numbers polling Americans on whether big bonuses should be banned at Wall Street's bailout recipients,... More

Brad DeLong’s Fiscal Manifesto

By Felix Salmon   Nov 9, 2010 at 03:13 PM

Brad DeLong is fed up with vague hand-waving from technocrats, Bob Rubin very much included, who call for the government... More

Conservatives Get Colorful on Obama’s Deficit Speech

More subdued libs are mostly pleased

By Joel Meares   Apr 14, 2011 at 01:11 PM

The president’s speech yesterday was notable to my ears for two things: the surprisingly direct attack on Rep. Paul... More

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers

PolitiFact is half right on two State of the Union truth-o-meters

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 27, 2011 at 11:08 AM

Commenter James asked me to take a look at a couple of verdicts from PolitiFact on the State of the... More

Medicare and the Deficit

The commission noise aside, it’s all that matters

By Felix Salmon   Nov 11, 2010 at 11:40 AM

The most clear-eyed view of the silliness of the deficit commission report comes from Kevin Drum, who points out that... More

Michael Kinsley Takes Issue with an Audit Criticism

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 6, 2010 at 04:42 PM

Michael Kinsley writes to say I missed the point of his column asking "Are we poorer than we used to... More