Naked Capitalism

Webber graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School.{{Cite web |last=Srinivasan |first=Sujata |date=2010-10-26 |title=Yves Smith: Economics Cons The World |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/interview/close-range/yves-smith-economics-cons-the-world/18492/1 |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Forbes India |language=en}} She began her career in the financial services industry in 1981 at Goldman Sachs, later moving to McKinsey & Co. and Sumitomo Bank.{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Rob |date=Jan 2011 |title=Yves Smith |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/840570237 |journal=Credit |language=English |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=52–54 |publisher=Incisive Media |id={{ProQuest|840570237}} |via=ProQuest}} In 1989 she founded her own company.

Webber started the Naked Capitalism blog because she saw a reporting gap in 2006, just before the 2007–2008 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?"{{Cite news |last=Pollack |first=Lisa |date=2012-02-10 |title=The blogosphere |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b9656a9f-a4a0-3dcf-bbe6-12cd121eba2d |access-date=2023-07-18}}

Webber has also written under her pen name – a pun on the 18th-century economist Adam Smith{{Cite web |last=Rafferty |first=Kevin |date=2010-04-05 |title=Brutal truth about the biggest con game of all |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/710570/brutal-truth-about-biggest-con-game-all |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} – for other outlets including the New York Times,{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Mike |date=2010-11-01 |title=Recommended Reading: Yves Smith's Sunday New York Times Op-Ed |url=https://observer.com/2010/11/recommended-reading-yves-smiths-sunday-emnew-york-timesem-oped/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=The New York Observer |language=en-US}} New York magazine,{{Cite web |title=Naked Capitalism |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/tags/naked-capitalism/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=New York |publisher= |language=en-us}} Bloomberg,{{Cite web |date=2016-04-29 |title=Articles by Yves Smith |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/contributors/AQDdEK55Mk4/yves-smith |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429202057/http://www.bloombergview.com/contributors/AQDdEK55Mk4/yves-smith |archive-date=2016-04-29 |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=bloombergview.com}} and the Roosevelt Institute.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Yves |date=2010-09-23 |title=Guest Post from Yves Smith: Goldman Sachs' Glass Ceiling Remains Intact |url=http://rooseveltinstitute.org/guest-post-yves-smith-goldman-sachs-glass-ceiling-remains-intact/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222174659/http://rooseveltinstitute.org/guest-post-yves-smith-goldman-sachs-glass-ceiling-remains-intact/ |archive-date=2018-12-22 |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=rooseveltinstitute.org}}

Naked Capitalism is written by a small group of contributors.{{Cite web |last=Hagan |first=Joe |date=2009-09-25 |title=The Dow Zero Insurgency |url=https://nymag.com/guides/money/2009/59457/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=New York |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |title=Bloggers |url=https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/bloggers |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=naked capitalism |language=en-US}} In addition to Webber herself, current and former contributors include:

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• Lambert Strether{{Cite web |last=Truthout |date=2017-12-10 |title=Lambert Strether |url=https://truthout.org/authors/lambert-strether/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Truthout |language=en-US}}
• Nick Corbishley{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=2021-01-04 |title=Nick Corbishley |url=https://truthout.org/authors/nick-corbishley/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Truthout |language=en-US}}
• Conor Gallagher{{Cite web |last=Gallagher |first=Conor |date=2022-12-28 |title=NATO's Ghosts of the Past Return in Kosovo-Serbia |url=https://braveneweurope.com/conor-gallagher-natos-ghosts-of-the-past-return-in-kosovo-serbia |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Brave New Europe |language=en-US}}
• Philip Pilkington{{Cite web |last=Pilkington |first=Philip |date=2017-08-16 |title=Utilitarian Economics and the Corruption of Conservatism |url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2017/08/utilitarian-economics-corruption-conservatism/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=American Affairs Journal |language=en-US}}
• David Dayen{{Cite web |title=The Economics Department Presents Speaker David Dayen |url=https://cal.lmu.edu/event/the_economics_department_presents_speaker_david_dayen_4524 |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=Loyola Marymount University |language=en}}
• Michael Hudson{{Cite web |last=Hudson |first=Michael |date=2017-04-04 |title=Bloomberg's Hit Job on Venezuela – and Me |url=https://michael-hudson.com/2017/04/bloombergs-hit-job-on-venezuela-and-me/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=michael-hudson.com |language=en-US}}
• Matt Stoller{{Cite web |last=Fry|first=Erika|title=Is Occupy Wall Street Getting Its Fair Share of Press? |date=2011-09-29|url=https://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/is_occupy_wall_street_getting.php |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Jeremy |date=2014-04-07 |title=Financial repression, Matt Stoller version |url=https://www.primeeconomics.org/articles/financial-repression-matt-stoller-version/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Prime |language=en-GB}}
• Nathan Tankus{{Cite web |title=Nathan Tankus |url=https://daily.jstor.org/daily-author/nathan-tankus/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=JSTOR Daily |language=en-US}}
• Jerri-Lynn Scofield{{Cite web |title=Simon featured on Naked Capitalism {{!}} University of Georgia School of Law |url=https://www.law.uga.edu/news/52151 |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=www.law.uga.edu}}
• Andrew Dittmer{{Cite book |last=Mirowski |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbpvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA431 |title=Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown |date=2014-04-15 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78168-302-6 |pages=431 |language=en}}
• Edward Harrison{{Cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Claire A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JeaEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |title=Better Bankers, Better Banks: Promoting Good Business through Contractual Commitment |last2=Painter |first2=Richard W. |date=2015-10-19 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-29305-9 |pages=220 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Weisenthal |first=Joe |date=2009-07-01 |title=SHOCKER: Fed Governor Says Fed Policy Won't Cause Inflation |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/shocker-fed-governor-says-current-fed-policy-wont-cause-inflation-2009-7 |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}
• Richard Smith (UK editor){{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Richard |date=2016-07-31 |title=How Scotland's tax haven firms could be reformed |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14653298.richard-smith-scotlands-tax-haven-limited-partnerships-reformed/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=The Scotland Herald |language=en}}

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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.{{Cite web |date=2011-11-24 |title=In Aftermath of Financial Crisis, Who's Being Held Responsible? |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-aftermath-of-financial-crisis-who-s-being-held-responsible |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Chittum |first=Ryan |date=2010-10-08 |title=The Journal Trails Badly on the Foreclosure Scandal |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_journal_trails_badly_on_th.php |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}} 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 2007–2008 financial crisis.{{Cite magazine |last=Gandel |first=Stephen |date=2011-03-07 |title=The 25 Best Financial Blogs |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2057116_2057343_2057280,00.html |magazine=TIME |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |access-date=2023-07-18}} 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."{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2012/01/27/The-Best-Alternative-Financial-Blogs.html |title=The Best Alternative Financial Blogs |last=Carney |first=John |date=27 January 2012 |website=CNBC |access-date= 2 November 2014}} 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."{{Cite magazine |author=WIRED Staff |title=101 Signals: Want to Know Business? These Are the Only People You Need to Follow |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/101signals-business/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |issn=1059-1028}}

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."{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Kate |date=2013-10-12 |title=Opinion {{!}} Alex Gibney |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/alex-gibney.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |issn=0362-4331}} The New York Times financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson cited Naked Capitalism in 2014 as one of the "must-read financial blogs" she visited regularly.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=The Times Insider |date=2014-04-25 |title=Follow the Money: Gretchen Morgenson on Wall Street |url=https://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/04/25/follow-the-money-gretchen-morgenson-on-wall-street/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=The New York Times |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Lopez |first=Linette |date=2014-06-01 |title=Someone Posted A Bunch Of Private Equity 'Trade Secrets' That The Industry Wants To Keep Under Wraps |url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/someone-posted-bunch-private-equity-184226134.html |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Sirota |first=David |date=2015-03-30 |title=The SEC's Danger of Regulatory Capture |url=https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-sec-illustrates-the-danger-of-regulatory-capture |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=In These Times |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |last=Taibbi |first=Matt |date=2015-03-25 |title=Regulatory Capture, Captured on Video |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/regulatory-capture-captured-on-video-190033/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hiltzik |first=Michael |date=2015-03-20 |title=Bankers are complaining – again – about too much regulation |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-fi-mh-bankers-are-complaining-20150320-column.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230725002852/https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-fi-mh-bankers-are-complaining-20150320-column.html |archive-date=2023-07-25 |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Baltimore Sun}} Bowden stepped down shortly after.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Owen |date=2015-04-07 |title=Chief SEC Watchdog Returning To Private Sector |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/sec-inspections-chief-andrew-bowden-plans-return-private-sector-1872763 |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Ashton |first=Adam |date=2018-04-20 |title=Inflated-résumé claims prompt review of top CalPERS official |work=The Sacramento Bee |url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article209490874.html |access-date=2023-07-25}}{{Cite news |last=Ashton |first=Adam |date=2018-05-21 |title=Pension fund's CFO 'no longer works' for CalPERS after hiring review |work=The Fresno Bee |url=https://www.fresnobee.com/news/california/article211610184.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-07-25 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230724234833/https://amp.fresnobee.com/article211610184.html |archive-date=2023-07-24}} In 2020, a Naked Capitalism blog post pointing out disclosure discrepancies toppled the same organization's chief investment officer.{{Cite news |last=Cantrell |first=Amanda |date=2020-08-16 |title=The Crucifixion of Ben Meng |work=Institutional Investor |url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswzui4ynfc0xmc6ky68/corner-office/the-crucifixion-of-ben-meng |access-date=2023-07-18}}{{Cite news |last=Cumbo |first=Josephine |date=2022-02-22 |title=US pension group Calpers hires Canadian as investment chief |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/eaf4969a-998b-4f77-980d-e80f152cefc2 |access-date=2023-07-22}} 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.{{Cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Peter |last2=Kruppa |first2=Miles |date=2020-08-06 |title=Calpers investment chief resigns after 18 months at $400bn fund |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/26ba20b1-57dd-434d-a7ff-42bb07b545b5 |access-date=2023-07-22}}

Naked Capitalism was cited by Dow Jones & Company in an amicus brief for the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Allen v. Cooper.{{Cite web |last=LoBue |first=Robert P. |date=2019-08-12 |title=Brief for Amicus Curiae Dow Jones & Company, Inc. in Support of Petitioners, Allen v. Cooper, 140 S. Ct. 994 (2020) (No. 18-877) |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-877/112136/20190813120121554_18-877%20Allen%20v%20Governor%20Brief%20for%20Amicus%20Curiae%20Dow%20Jones.pdf |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=supremecourt.gov |page=4}}{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Runhua |date=April 2021 |title=Modify State "Piracy" after Allen: Introducing Apology to the U.S. Copyright Regime |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/buflr69&div=21&id=&page= |journal=Buffalo Law Review |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=499–500 |access-date=2023-07-31 |via=Hein Online}} Since 2021, the site has been archived monthly in the Economics Blogs Web Archive at the Library of Congress.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Yves |date=2021-11-07 |title=Naked Capitalism Added to Library of Congress |url=https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/11/naked-capitalism-added-to-library-of-congress.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=naked capitalism |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Search results for Economics Blogs Web Archive, Naked Capitalism, Available Online |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/economics-blogs-web-archive/?q=Naked+Capitalism |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}

• {{Citation | title = ECONned | author = Yves Smith | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0-230-62051-3 | title-link = ECONned }}{{Cite journal |last=Fligstein |first=Neil |date=2011 |title=The Banks Did It |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23042104 |journal=Contemporary Sociology |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=140–142 |doi=10.1177/0094306110396834b |jstor=23042104 |s2cid=143482557 |issn=0094-3061}}{{Cite journal |last=Du Boff |first=Richard|date=2010|title=A History of the Great Bust – Still With Us |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/749929643 |access-date=2023-07-18 |journal=Monthly Review|volume=62|issue=4|pages=55–62|doi=10.14452/MR-062-04-2010-08_8 |id={{ProQuest|749929643}} |via=ProQuest |language=en|doi-access=free}}
• Naked Capitalism Whistleblower Report on Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews (free e-book, 2013){{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Yves |date=2013-04-05 |title=Launching Our First (Free) Ebook on the OCC/Fed Foreclosure Review Fiasco |url=https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/launching-our-first-free-ebook-on-the-foreclosure-review-fiasco.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=naked capitalism |language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.auroraadvisors.com/resume_webber.html Aurora Advisors Inc. bio for Susan Webber]
• [http://www.dailykos.com/news/Naked%20Capitalism Naked Capitalism entries on the Daily Kos blog]

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