Wall Street Lays Another Egg, by Niall Ferguson (December 2008)
Not so long ago, the dollar stood for a sum of gold, and bankers knew the people they lent to. The author charts the emergence of an abstract, even absurd world where mathematical models ignored both history and human nature, and value had no meaning.
The News Blues, by James Wolcott (November 2008)
The author has lived through a lot of hair-raising times—nuclear standoffs, assassinations, 9/11, financial meltdown—but now he’s sure the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
Reversal of Fortune, by Joseph E. Stiglitz (November 2008)
Describing how ideology, special-interest pressure, populist politics, and sheer incompetence have left the U.S. economy on life support, the author puts forth a clear, commonsense plan to reverse the Bush-era follies and regain America’s economic sanity.
The New Establishment 2008 (October 2008)
The economy may be in shambles, but the moguls of the V.F. 100 are still moving, shaking, merging, and acquiring.
The Stock Market’s 25 Biggest Losers, by Peter Newcomb (October 2008)
Bringing Down Bear Stearns, by Bryan Burrough (August 2008)
On March 10, the rumor started: Bear Stearns was having liquidity problems. The speculation created its own reality, and the race was on to keep Bear’s crisis from ravaging Wall Street.
Hamptons Overdrive, by Michael Shnayerson (August 2008)
Amid whispers about which Wall Street casualties will lose their summer spreads, the market for properties below $10 million is grim. The author checks the real-estate temperature of the country’s most celebrated summer retreat to see if its mere mega-millionaires are about to take a cold dip.
The $3 Trillion War, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes (April 2008)
The Bush administration’s spending on military operations is merely the tip of a vast fiscal iceberg. In an excerpt from their new book, the authors calculate the grim bottom line.
America’s 50 Richest Paydays: Who, What, and How Much, by Peter Newcomb (April 2008)
Here are the 50 players (and one lucky canine) who enjoyed windfalls thanks to large transactions: stock cash-outs, I.P.O.’s, sales of companies, real-estate deals—even inheritances.
The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush, by Joseph E. Stiglitz (December 2007)
The next president will have to deal with yet another crippling legacy of George W. Bush: the economy. A Nobel laureate sees a generation-long struggle to recoup.
The People vs. the Profiteers, by David Rose (November 2007)
Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers’ behalf.
Billions over Baghdad, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele (October 2007)
Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in U.S. currency—much of it belonging to the Iraqi people—was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing.
The Sack of Washington, by Cullen Murphy (June 2007)
Comparisons of America and Rome are everywhere these days, whether deploring an over-extended military, social decadence, or illegal immigration. A more disturbing—and largely ignored—similarity lies in the wholesale privatization of the U.S. government, which has blurred the line between public good and personal gain.
The Rise of Big Water, by Charles C. Mann (May 2007)
The water crisis is now. As major cities battle drought and pollution, they are turning to a handful of Western companies to manage the problem.
Serious Money, by Michael Wolff (May 2007)
Everyone who’s anyone is getting into the private-equity bubble—even journalists and rock stars. But there are signs the bubble is about to burst, and smart money may be trying to turn mania into cash.
Washington’s $8 Billion Shadow, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele (March 2007)
Mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government with brawn. But the biggest, most powerful of the “body shops”—saic—sells brainpower, including a lot of the “expertise” behind the Iraq war.
Empire Falls, by Niall Ferguson (October 2006)
They called it “the American Century,” but the past hundred years actually saw a shift away from Western dominance. Rome 331 and America and Europe 2006 appear to have more than a few problems in common.
Pox Americana, by Michael Wolff (October 2006)
Brand America, which ruled the global marketplace with its vision of cool capitalism, has been discontinued. This is Bush Country now, and the world is recoiling from a new image that makes the U.S. as much a danger to its friends as it is to its enemies.
Panic on 43rd Street, by Michael Wolff (September 2006)
Even as the Times builds a soaring $850 million headquarters, its newsroom, its leadership, and its business are in a crisis of confidence.
Washington Babylon, by Judy Bachrach (August 2006)
California Republican congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham traded military contracts for $2.4 million in antiques, cash, and other booty. His case exposed a world of bribery, booze, and broads that reaches into the Pentagon, the C.I.A., and Congress.
Greenwich’s Outrageous Fortune, by Nina Munk (July 2006)
Greenwich, Connecticut, has attracted some of the biggest, newest, shiniest fortunes in America. Today that money comes from the trillion-dollar hedge-fund business, whose managers are behind a decade of over-the-top real-estate deals, teardowns, and mega-mansions.
