The Audit

Reuters On the “Payment Protection” Scam

Plus, an American Banker columnist’s predatory-lending past

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 16, 2011 at 01:35 PM

Reuters puts the spotlight on the scam that is the multi-billion-dollar credit-card insurance industry, which promises to cover payments if... More

Audit Notes: Farmland Booms, Regulation and Jobs, Euro Sell-off

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 15, 2011 at 07:24 PM

The Wall Street Journal reports that farming is making something of a comeback on the edges of metro areas amid... More

Confused NYT Coverage of Obama Health Care Law’s Prospects

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 15, 2011 at 04:59 PM

The New York Times can't make up its mind on what a Supreme Court ruling against Obama health care plan's... More

Bloomberg Gives Newt Another Frannie Headache

Executives contradict Gingrich’s account of his advice

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 15, 2011 at 03:57 PM

Newt Gingrich has a Frannie problem. The former Speaker of the House used to work for Freddie Mac but is... More

Insider Trading in Congress

A new book puts faces on data suggesting members enrich themselves with nonpublic information

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 14, 2011 at 07:35 PM

If I could short Congress, I would right now. Last night's 60 Minutes report, based on the work of conservative... More

The Times Eyes New Fees From the Banks

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 14, 2011 at 03:05 PM

Everybody who skipped Bank Transfer Day ought to read this New York Times story today on how giant banks are... More

Debating Starkman’s “Confidence Game”

Rounding up responses

By Alysia Santo   Nov 14, 2011 at 01:16 PM

Dean Starkman’s critique of future-of-news gurus Jeff Jarvis, Clay Shirky, and Jay Rosen, among others, made a bit of splash,... More

Audit Notes: The Sovereign Risk Genie, Regulatory Complexity, Wal-Mart and Bank Fees

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 11, 2011 at 07:22 PM

The Economist's Greg Ip says the European crisis, at its core, is not about Silvio Berlusconi or even Italian debt... More

Holding Aggregators to Journalistic Standards

By Felix Salmon   Nov 11, 2011 at 04:32 PM

Now I’ve got my rant off my chest, let me try to add a bigger-picture point to the noise surrounding... More

The Morning Call Revisits Amazon’s Work Conditions

Allentown workers baked in the summer, froze in the winter

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 11, 2011 at 03:48 PM

Remember that Morning Call investigation a couple of months ago into an Amazon sweatshop outside Allentown, Pennsylvania? The paper showed... More

Audit Notes: Guardian Editor on Hackgate, Judge Rakoff, Confidence Game

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 10, 2011 at 07:44 PM

Read Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger's Orwell lecture for an excellent overview and analysis of Murdoch's hacking scandal, and his paper's... More

The Big Lie of the Crisis, Called Out By the Press

The false “banks didn’t do it” meme takes hold on the right, as Romney showed last night

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 10, 2011 at 05:33 PM

At CNBC's GOP debate last night, Mitt Romney showed that he, like Michael Bloomberg, buys into the Big Lie of... More

It’s About the Stories

A response to Emily Bell

By Dean Starkman   Nov 10, 2011 at 12:02 PM

I thank Emily for her critique of "Confidence Game." Alysia Santo is pulling together other responses, and I’ll get... More

Audit Notes: The Euro Crisis’s 1930s Parallels, Taibbi on Bloomberg

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 10, 2011 at 01:24 AM

The eurozone crisis is now at its worst point with Italy's interest rates at unsustainable rates and quite possibly past... More

NYT on How Unions Are Learning From Occupy Wall Street

By Ryan Chittum   Nov 9, 2011 at 01:41 PM

The New York Times reports on how the American labor movement, whose membership and power have crumbled over the last... More