We hope you’re as excited as we are that this site is healthy and vibrant after 19 years of existence. It’s been a very busy time!
There is so much to be thankful for over the past few years. Luckily, my tech friend Ed Wright suggested I start posting in December 2006. I bring it up because at the time it was clear that most of the business press was not picking up on the signs of impending problems in the credit markets. If you’re a financially savvy person, you’ll notice this by carefully reading the Financial Times and Bloomberg. Mark Thoma of the Economist’s View, who was a key aggregator at the time, not only encouraged us, but also helped us get early notice by linking to some of our posts. But this was the heyday of a vibrant econoblogosphere, championed by many experts and commentators such as Nouriel Roubini, Simon Johnson, James Kwak, Barry Ritholtz, Paul Krugman, Felix Salmon, Michael Shedlock, Tanta, The Independent Accountant, Steve Waldman, and the Epicurean Dealmaker. Then, just when it looked like we weren’t going to meet the readership targets we had set to justify continuing to publish, another cog slipped out of the financial system with a hopeful sign of increased traffic.
Sadly, incompetence and misconduct have continued in recent years. Part of the list: Half-hearted reforms in the post-crisis period helped to exacerbate already devastating levels of inequality. Foreclosure and series of abuses of rights. I realized much later that the Cyprus banking crisis was an early exception to Russia. Calpers. Private equity fees and fraud reporting. We warned early on that this strategy did not generate enough returns to compensate the limited partners for the risks they posed. Greek bailout crisis. Half-hearted efforts to combat climate change. COVID. And now the Trump whirlwind.
We’ve also been fortunate to attract many highly skilled and often witty contributors, including Ed Harrison, Marshall Auerbach, Richard Smith, Andrew Dittmar, Nathan Tankus, Matt Stoller, Philip Pilkington, Gonzalo Lira, Satyajit Das, Rob Urey, I.M. Doc, and Michael Hudson, as well as great regular writers like Jerry Lynn. Schofield, Connor, KLG, and of course my respected Lambert. And after many years of struggle, we now have a stable technology platform thanks to the discreet vigilance of our guru Dave.
But a big reason we’ve continued this dedication is our amazing readership, which we see every day through comments, emails, and (crucially) financial support. We wouldn’t be here without you. And the quality of the comments section depends on the bickering between moderators Katiebird and Semperloquitur. That is borne out by the good fortune of attracting impressive new writers to fill Lambert’s yellow waders, Haig, Natt and Currot, with KLG and Semperlokiteur also coming forward to fill dual roles. They say they are keen to contribute and want to continue enjoying the experience because of the strong interest of our truly global and world-class commentators, who regularly provide highly informed views.
Wishing you all a fun and festive holiday season and a wonderful 2026!
