Author Archives: David Dayen

About David Dayen

David is a contributing writer to Salon.com. He has been writing about politics since 2004. He spent three years writing for the FireDogLake News Desk; he’s also written for The New Republic, The American Prospect, The Guardian (UK), The Huffington Post, The Washington Monthly, Alternet, Democracy Journal and Pacific Standard, as well as multiple well-trafficked progressive blogs and websites. His has been a guest on MSNBC, CNN, Aljazeera, Russia Today, NPR, Pacifica Radio and Air America Radio. He has contributed to two anthology books, one about the Wisconsin labor uprising and another on the fight against the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress. Prior to writing about politics he worked for two decades as a television producer and editor. You can follow him on Twitter at @ddayen.

Links 1/18/16

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Geithner Ghostwriter Mike Grunwald Tries to Shift Financial Crisis Narrative Away From The Big Short

It’s sad that you have to be something of a detective to decipher what passes for content at most major American news outlets. In the case of Michael Grunwald, however, we have a decent set of indicators about the normally hidden agenda. The Politico writer worked with Tim Geithner on his memoir. In fact, I believe he has said publicly that he didn’t know a lot about finance before meeting Geithner. So when Grunwald decides to leap into anything involving this topic, we can assume the end result is not altogether different than what it would look like if Geithner wrote it with his own byline.

The latest example is a nominal review of The Big Short, which is not really a review. It’s an attempt to steer the narrative of what happened, in the financial crisis and its aftermath, to territory that comforts elites.

Don Quijones: “Everything Has Come to a Standstill”- Political Fallout Hits Business in Spain

By Don Quijones, Spain & Mexico, editor at Wolf Street. Originally published as Wolf Street. On Friday, Spain’s benchmark stock index, the Ibex 35, plumbed depths it had not seen since the worst days of 2013, the year that the country’s economy began its “miraculous” recovery. Of the 35 companies listed on the index, 15 […]

Links 1/16/16

Edward Lambert: Forecasting the Stock Market thru Effective Demand

Dave here. The markets have taken a beating in 2016, and while the fallacy of thinking the market=the economy seems like an oversimplification, this post provides a competing viewpoint that, without taking a position in affirmation or dissent, I thought I would offer up for discussion. For some background, you can read Edward’s other posts […]

Links 1/5/16

Puerto Rico Defaults a Second Time; Claims of “Scheming” Designed to Crush Island Citizens

Puerto Rico fails to pay $37.3 million in bonds due today. While investors and analysts call it a bluff, the stakes are quite real.

Wolf Richter: Welcome to 2016! With Just a Touch of Mayhem for Stocks

Stocks took a beating around the globe on the first day back in 2016. Hopes of a better year start out inauspiciously.

Links 12/14/15

Labor Advisory Committee Report on TPP Synthesizes Everything Wrong About the Trade Deal

By David Dayen, a lapsed blogger and author of Chain of Title, to be released May 2016. Follow him on Twitter @ddayen. The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has been maligned for its network of Trade Advisory Committees, allegedly “independent” counsel for trade agreements. The Washington Post did the best work on the Advisory Committees back […]

Matias Vernego: Neoliberalism Resurgent: What to Expect in Argentina after Macri’s Victory

The election of businessman Mauricio Macri to the presidency in Argentina signals a rightward turn in the country and, perhaps, in South America more generally. Macri, the candidate of the right-wing Compromiso para el cambio (Commitment to Change) party, defeated Buenos Aires province governor Daniel Scioli (the Peronist party candidate) in November’s runoff election, by less than 3% of the vote.

Links 12/12/15

David Dayen: Is This The Beginning of the Crackup in High-Yield Corporate Debt?

I wasn’t entirely sure if the implosion this week of Third Avenue Management’s Focused Credit Fund was an elaborate advertisement for the release of The Big Short or what, but it certainly feels like a familiar early data point, not for mortgages this time but for something we’ve been tracking for a while: the high-yield bond sector.

John Helmer: Russia Fires Moon Shot Over the Bosphorus – Turks Threaten War

It isn’t exactly certain what the Turkish military saw on a foredeck deck of the Russian Navy’s landing ship, Caesar Kunikov, as it passed through the Bosphorus Strait last Sunday. What is certain is that the Turkish Foreign Ministry declared the Russians had launched “a pure provocation” at Turkey, and that the Turks would react with matching force. “The necessary answer will be given in situations deemed to be a threat,” announced Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who has been foreign minister for 12 days.

Antitrust Incompetence from the FTC, as Albertson’s/Safeway Divestiture Goes Awry

Over the past several months, I’ve come to the conclusion that so many problems in our politics and our economy results from our tolerance of monopoly capitalism. I did a super-long story for The American Prospect laying this out, and how we need a revival of antitrust policy at the grassroots level. Here’s a depressing case study that suggests maybe we should just relieve one of the antitrust enforcement agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, of its duties.