This site is still feisty and punching above its weight thanks to the considerable support, participation, and insight of many readers, commentators, writers, moderators. So all of us here at Naked Capitalism express our deep appreciation for your help and input over all these years, and also welcome newbies to the fold, and hope you’ll soon become regulars.
We now have over 30,900 published posts close to 2 million comments, which is a considerable body of work. Many have contributed, including importantly those who donate to the site. But giving us intel, links, feedback (including the critical kind) and correcting our too frequent typos are also very important and very much appreciated in sharpening our analysis and timeliness.
I’ve seldom told the origin of the name Naked Capitalism. In 1999, a writer approached me about pitching a TV show, focused on witty and cynical commentary. We then went to a producer, who was interested. When I nattered about what the show was to be about, one of my remarks included the expression “naked capitalism”. The producer sat bolt upright and said, “That is what you should call it.”
I went and promptly registered the URL. Unfortunately, we soon learned in Peak Dotcom that no one wanted to hear a negative word, and in the bust, there was no money for advertising on a new show.
So then in 2006, a friend urged me to start a blog. I barely knew what they were and was generally of the view that there was no point in writing unless there was something worth saying. But at that time, there were important issue not getting adequate coverage, specifically that credit risk (as in loans and bonds) were being underpriced on a close to pervasive basis. Lenders were not demanding high enough interest charges and were lax on other terms. The frenzy was particularly acute in home mortgages in most Anglosphere countries.
Yet you had to read the Financial Times and Bloomberg carefully to infer that, and you got no clue from the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times.
A vibrant econoblogosphere debated the developing crisis. We debated what was going on. Our important interlocutors, who also would up helping increase our visibility, included bloggers who have since retired (or passed on) and others who are still writing: Mark Thoma, Tanta at Calculated Risk, Ed Harrison, Barry Ritholtz, Felix Salmon, Paul Krugman, Simon Johnson and James Kwak, Steve Waldman, Marshall Auerback…I am sure I have missed other important names and apologize for the oversight.
As the financial system blew up and then not enough in the way of reform happened, we became active in the next, underreported leg of the crisis: mass foreclosures and the failure of banks to make mortgage modifications for viable borrowers, as had been customary during the last big mortgage crisis, the S&L crisis. Here, securization maven Tom Adams played an invaluable role in teching me and many others about the many arcane and important details about the contracts and procedures for these mortgage deals, asl well as CDOs. Matt Stoller organized a very effective coalition via a listserv that came painfully close to getting a better deal for underwater borrowers than the one the Administration was pushing forward, Keep in mind any deal amounted to a huge “get out of liabilty nearly free” card for mortgage securitization originators and servicers, so there should have been ample leverage to cudgel them into doing more for borrowers and communities. But Obama managed to flip Eric Schneiderman for the very cheap price of a seat next to Michelle at the State of the Union address, and the promise of a role in a Federal coalition….which proved to be a hollow mandate.
I feel remiss in having to skip over so many critical chapters….Richard Smith’s relentless pursuit of international scammers. The private equity insider who educated me about the industry and about CalPERS as a big window into how it worked. The Cyprus banking collapse. The 2015 Greek bailout crisis. Brexit, which brought us our Brexit Brain Trust, including Colonel Smithers, PlutoniumKun, Clive, vlade, and the illustrious David, now Aurelien. The PropOrNot fiasco, in what turned out to be an early shot in the Russia!Russia! mania. Covid, where Lambert, assisted considerably by our Covid Brain Trust, has built an encyclopediac record. Jerri-Lynn Scofield’s ahead of the curve work on the right to repair, the war on plastics and the cost of fast fashion. And now the exciting beats manned by new members of our team: Nick on digital currencies, the war on cash, and Latin American economics and finance; KLG, with his deep dives on scientific practice and malpractice, and Conor with his watchful eye for important news stories outside the Collective West, particularly those with serious geopolitical implications. We also depend on our super overqualified tech maven Dave, and our diligent moderator katiebird.
Again thanks for your idea, insights, loyalty, and support! And on to another year.
