Contrarian Pundit

I’m sorry for the dearth of posts in the last two weeks, but I’ve had to deal with some important personal stuff that has resulted in some news: I have accepted a job to become Boston Review’s new web editor. I am absolutely thrilled by the opportunity.
As for my Macy’s investigation, the article made [...]

The feds are finally getting serious about pursuing mortgage fraud and related crimes during the bubble era.  Yesterday it was announced that the FDIC is suing four former executives at IndyMac for negligently approving billions in ADC loans to, shall we say, less-than-credit-worthy borrowers. If you recall, Indymac was seized by the FDIC in July [...]

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released a damning report last week on the U.S. military’s ongoing training program for Afghan security forces. According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon has vastly exaggerated its success in creating Afghan military and police units, does not have an adequate system for measuring their capabilities, and [...]

The New York Times‘ Louise Story and Gretchen Morgenson, whose work on Goldman Sachs will likely net them a Pulitzer next year, published another bombshell yesterday on how federal regulators orchestrated A.I.G.’s $182 billion bailout on terms even more overwhelmingly favorable to Goldman Sachs and other investment banks than simply recouping their contracts at 100 [...]