Naked Capitalism Explained

Naked Capitalism
Commercial:Yes
Type:Financial news and analysis
Registration:None
Language:English
Owner:Aurora Advisors Incorporated
Author:Yves Smith
Current Status:Online

Naked Capitalism is a liberal American group blog.[1] Susan Webber, the principal of Aurora Advisors Incorporated, a management-consulting firm based in New York City, launched the site in late 2006, using the pen name Yves Smith.[2] She focused on finance and economic news and analysis, with an emphasis on legal and ethical issues of the banking industry and the mortgage foreclosure process, the worldwide effects of the banking crisis of 2008, the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, and its aftermath. The site became one of the most highly frequented financial blogs on the Internet and has published a number of noted exposés since.

Background

Webber graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School.[3] She began her career in the financial services industry in 1981 at Goldman Sachs, later moving to McKinsey & Co. and Sumitomo Bank.[4] In 1989 she founded her own company.

Webber started the Naked Capitalism blog because she saw a reporting gap in 2006, just before the financial crisis – there was a lot of anxiety among seasoned observers, yet the US press featured "all this cheerleading [of the financial industry] and there was a lack of any skepticism [...] How could anyone in the market not see what was going on? That we were going to have some sort of train wreck?"[5]

Webber has also written under her pen name – a pun on the 18th-century economist Adam Smith[6] – for other outlets including the New York Times,[7] New York magazine,[8] Bloomberg,[9] and the Roosevelt Institute.[10]

Contributing writers

Naked Capitalism is written by a small group of contributors.[11] [12] In addition to Webber herself, current and former contributors include:

Reception

Naked Capitalism became widely read during the 2007–2008 financial crisis as people were trying to come to grips with what was happening. This led to TV appearances for Smith on stations such as CNBC, CNN, Fox News and PBS, and she was approached to write a book on the crisis.[27]

In a 2010 piece critiquing the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the foreclosure scandal, the Columbia Journalism Review noted that the Wall Street Journal was being "outclassed" by Naked Capitalism.[28] In 2011, TIME included Naked Capitalism among "The 25 Best Financial Blogs", saying that Smith had been well ahead of the curve in understanding the financial crisis.[29] Stephen Gandel, reviewing Naked Capitalism for TIME, said that "At times, Naked Capitalism's accusations against Wall Street can be hard to prove. But the blog's sense of right and wrong rings true to me."

In 2011, CNBC listed the site as one of the "20 Most Influential Finance Blogs", describing Smith as "a harsh critic of Wall Street who believes that fraud was at the center of the financial crisis."[30] In 2013, Wired included the blog among its "favorite sources of news covering the world of business and finance", saying Smith offered a "piercing look at the ethical and legal missteps of the global financial industry."[31]

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney told The New York Times that the "blog gives you a very unvarnished look at the political economy. You find out things that don’t show up in the news until weeks later."[32] The New York Times financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson cited Naked Capitalism in 2014 as one of the "must-read financial blogs" she visited regularly.[33]

In 2014, Naked Capitalism obtained and published twelve Limited Partnership Agreements (LPA) – agreements between private equity firms and their portfolio companies that are termed trade secrets, an area the SEC's Special Inspector Andrew J. Bowden had promised to look into.[34] In 2015, Naked Capitalism drew attention to comments Bowden had recently made at a Stanford Law School conference that many observers felt were inappropriate and a sign of "regulatory capture" – a regulator becoming too friendly with an industry their profession requires them to regulate.[35] [36] [37] Bowden stepped down shortly after.[38]

In 2018, a Naked Capitalism article highlighting discrepancies in the work résumé of the Chief Financial Officer of the $410 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) was followed by the executive's departure.[39] [40] In 2020, a Naked Capitalism blog post pointing out disclosure discrepancies toppled the same organization's chief investment officer.[41] [42] Naked Capitalism said the officer had personally invested in some of the same private equity groups CalPERS had invested in, creating a conflict of interest.[43]

Naked Capitalism was cited by Dow Jones & Company in an amicus brief for the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Allen v. Cooper.[44] [45] Since 2021, the site has been archived monthly in the Economics Blogs Web Archive at the Library of Congress.[46] [47]

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Douglas . Danielle . 2013-08-02 . The rise of Promontory . . 2023-07-18.
  2. Web site: Kulwin . Noah . 2018-08-10 . Naked Capitalism's Yves Smith on Why We Didn't See the 2008 Crash Coming . 2023-07-22 . . en-us.
  3. Web site: Srinivasan . Sujata . 2010-10-26 . Yves Smith: Economics Cons The World . 2023-07-18 . Forbes India . en.
  4. Davies . Rob . Jan 2011 . Yves Smith . Credit . English . 12 . 1 . 52–54 . . . ProQuest.
  5. News: Pollack . Lisa . 2012-02-10 . The blogosphere . . 2023-07-18.
  6. Web site: Rafferty . Kevin . 2010-04-05 . Brutal truth about the biggest con game of all . 2023-07-24 . South China Morning Post . en.
  7. Web site: Taylor . Mike . 2010-11-01 . Recommended Reading: Yves Smith's Sunday New York Times Op-Ed . 2023-07-18 . . en-US.
  8. Web site: Naked Capitalism . 2023-07-22 . . en-us.
  9. Web site: 2016-04-29 . Articles by Yves Smith . https://web.archive.org/web/20160429202057/http://www.bloombergview.com/contributors/AQDdEK55Mk4/yves-smith . 2016-04-29 . 2023-07-22 . bloombergview.com.
  10. Web site: Smith . Yves . 2010-09-23 . Guest Post from Yves Smith: Goldman Sachs' Glass Ceiling Remains Intact . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222174659/http://rooseveltinstitute.org/guest-post-yves-smith-goldman-sachs-glass-ceiling-remains-intact/ . 2018-12-22 . 2023-07-22 . rooseveltinstitute.org.
  11. Web site: Hagan . Joe . 2009-09-25 . The Dow Zero Insurgency . 2023-07-22 . . en-us.
  12. Web site: Bloggers . 2023-08-31 . naked capitalism . en-US.
  13. Web site: Truthout . 2017-12-10 . Lambert Strether . 2023-07-23 . Truthout . en-US.
  14. Web site: Staff . 2021-01-04 . Nick Corbishley . 2023-08-31 . . en-US.
  15. Web site: Gallagher . Conor . 2022-12-28 . NATO's Ghosts of the Past Return in Kosovo-Serbia . 2023-07-25 . Brave New Europe . en-US.
  16. Web site: Pilkington . Philip . 2017-08-16 . Utilitarian Economics and the Corruption of Conservatism . 2023-07-23 . American Affairs Journal . en-US.
  17. Web site: The Economics Department Presents Speaker David Dayen . 2023-07-24 . Loyola Marymount University . en.
  18. Web site: Hudson . Michael . 2017-04-04 . Bloomberg's Hit Job on Venezuela – and Me . 2023-07-26 . michael-hudson.com . en-US.
  19. Web site: Fry. Erika. Is Occupy Wall Street Getting Its Fair Share of Press? . 2011-09-29. 2023-07-23 . Columbia Journalism Review . en.
  20. Web site: Smith . Jeremy . 2014-04-07 . Financial repression, Matt Stoller version . 2023-07-25 . Prime . en-GB.
  21. Web site: Nathan Tankus . 2023-07-23 . JSTOR Daily . en-US.
  22. Web site: Simon featured on Naked Capitalism University of Georgia School of Law . 2023-07-23 . www.law.uga.edu.
  23. Book: Mirowski, Philip . Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown . 2014-04-15 . Verso Books . 978-1-78168-302-6 . 431 . en.
  24. Book: Hill . Claire A. . Better Bankers, Better Banks: Promoting Good Business through Contractual Commitment . Painter . Richard W. . 2015-10-19 . University of Chicago Press . 978-0-226-29305-9 . 220 . en.
  25. Web site: Weisenthal . Joe . 2009-07-01 . SHOCKER: Fed Governor Says Fed Policy Won't Cause Inflation . 2023-07-27 . Business Insider . en-US.
  26. Web site: Smith . Richard . 2016-07-31 . How Scotland's tax haven firms could be reformed . 2023-07-25 . . en.
  27. Web site: 2011-11-24 . In Aftermath of Financial Crisis, Who's Being Held Responsible? . 2023-07-22 . PBS NewsHour . en-us.
  28. Web site: Chittum . Ryan . 2010-10-08 . The Journal Trails Badly on the Foreclosure Scandal . 2023-07-25 . . en.
  29. Gandel . Stephen . 2011-03-07 . The 25 Best Financial Blogs . . en-US . 0040-781X . 2023-07-18.
  30. Web site: The Best Alternative Financial Blogs . Carney . John . 27 January 2012 . CNBC . 2 November 2014.
  31. WIRED Staff . 101 Signals: Want to Know Business? These Are the Only People You Need to Follow . en-US . Wired . 2023-07-20 . 1059-1028.
  32. News: Murphy . Kate . 2013-10-12 . Opinion Alex Gibney . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-18 . 0362-4331.
  33. Web site: Staff . The Times Insider . 2014-04-25 . Follow the Money: Gretchen Morgenson on Wall Street . 2023-07-22 . The New York Times . en.
  34. Web site: Lopez . Linette . 2014-06-01 . Someone Posted A Bunch Of Private Equity 'Trade Secrets' That The Industry Wants To Keep Under Wraps . 2023-07-25 . Yahoo Finance . en-US.
  35. Web site: Sirota . David . 2015-03-30 . The SEC's Danger of Regulatory Capture . 2023-07-25 . In These Times . en.
  36. Taibbi . Matt . 2015-03-25 . Regulatory Capture, Captured on Video . 2023-07-25 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  37. Web site: Hiltzik . Michael . 2015-03-20 . Bankers are complaining – again – about too much regulation . live . https://archive.today/20230725002852/https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-fi-mh-bankers-are-complaining-20150320-column.html . 2023-07-25 . 2023-07-25 . Baltimore Sun.
  38. Web site: Davis . Owen . 2015-04-07 . Chief SEC Watchdog Returning To Private Sector . 2023-07-25 . International Business Times . en-US.
  39. News: Ashton . Adam . 2018-04-20 . Inflated-résumé claims prompt review of top CalPERS official . . 2023-07-25.
  40. News: Ashton . Adam . 2018-05-21 . Pension fund's CFO 'no longer works' for CalPERS after hiring review . . live . 2023-07-25 . https://archive.today/20230724234833/https://amp.fresnobee.com/article211610184.html . 2023-07-24.
  41. News: Cantrell . Amanda . 2020-08-16 . The Crucifixion of Ben Meng . . 2023-07-18.
  42. News: Cumbo . Josephine . 2022-02-22 . US pension group Calpers hires Canadian as investment chief . Financial Times . 2023-07-22.
  43. News: Smith . Peter . Kruppa . Miles . 2020-08-06 . Calpers investment chief resigns after 18 months at $400bn fund . Financial Times . 2023-07-22.
  44. Web site: LoBue . Robert P. . 2019-08-12 . Brief for Amicus Curiae Dow Jones & Company, Inc. in Support of Petitioners, Allen v. Cooper, 140 S. Ct. 994 (2020) (No. 18-877) . 2023-07-31 . supremecourt.gov . 4.
  45. Wang . Runhua . April 2021 . Modify State "Piracy" after Allen: Introducing Apology to the U.S. Copyright Regime . Buffalo Law Review . 69 . 2 . 499–500 . 2023-07-31 . Hein Online.
  46. Web site: Smith . Yves . 2021-11-07 . Naked Capitalism Added to Library of Congress . 2023-07-18 . naked capitalism . en-US.
  47. Web site: Search results for Economics Blogs Web Archive, Naked Capitalism, Available Online . 2023-07-18 . Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  48. Fligstein . Neil . 2011 . The Banks Did It . Contemporary Sociology . 40 . 2 . 140–142 . 10.1177/0094306110396834b . 23042104 . 143482557 . 0094-3061.
  49. Du Boff . Richard. 2010. A History of the Great Bust – Still With Us . 2023-07-18 . Monthly Review. 62. 4. 55–62. 10.14452/MR-062-04-2010-08_8 . . ProQuest . en. free.
  50. Web site: Smith . Yves . 2013-04-05 . Launching Our First (Free) Ebook on the OCC/Fed Foreclosure Review Fiasco . 2023-07-18 . naked capitalism . en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Naked Capitalism".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.