Matt Stoller: Naked Capitalism – Hunting for the Truth

By Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of the BIG newsletter

I’m a former writer for Naked Capitalism, and a loyal reader. During the Biden era, I had some influence in a few regulatory areas, and I live in D.C., so you can call me one of those feckless insiders who generally screw up the world. Nonetheless, here’s why I think Naked Capitalism matters and is worth supporting. Or if you are already persuaded, take a detour to the Tip Jar right now and then come back for more

I want to focus on a scandal breaking right now over a bailout of Argentina. Since 2023, Argentine President Javier Milei promoted himself as the answer to Latin American dysfunction, with his deregulatory fervor and willingness to slash the social safety net. And for eighteen plus months, media accounts focused on his weird rock star persona, the strength of the Argentine economy, and how Milei’s ability to finally bring some discipline to that nation had restored investor confidence.

But a month ago, this narrative collapsed, as an election showed his austerity policies weren’t delivering for the public, and his country’s financial situation wasn’t as solid as it was portrayed.

Of course, if you had read Naked Capitalism, you would have known that the narrative was bullshit all along, and that Milei was just a recipient of politically motivated aid from the U.S. Here’s Nick Corbishley in January:

A couple of weeks ago, Argentina’s Milei government signed a $20 billion loan agreement with the IMF to help stall a run on the peso and allow it to keep servicing the $41 billion of debt it already owed the Fund. The deal included an unusually large $12 billion chunk upfront. The Washington-based World Bank and Inter-American Bank threw in additional emergency loans of $12 billion and $10 billion a-piece.

As we reported at the time, the IMF loan was granted despite fierce opposition from senior staff at the Fund. Even before the new loan, Argentina, which represents only 0.6% of global GDP, was already the Fund’s biggest debtor by a country mile — accounting for more than one-third of its entire global lending.

Over the past week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has gotten more explicit by committing U.S. exchange stabilization fund resources to the country. It’s a fascinating situation, with Trump’s fealty to hedge fund investors who stupidly bought Argentine dollar-denominated bonds causing him problems with his equally loyal farmers angry that their money is being used to help their Argentine competitors sell soybeans to China.

And this brings me back to the importance of Naked Capitalism. The thing about politics is that in order to have an impact, you have to know what’s going on. And one reason, and I know you know this, that Team Democrat has no impact is because they don’t know what’s going on. They don’t read Naked Capitalism. If they did, perhaps the world wouldn’t be on fire, though I’ll note that you shouldn’t trust me, I’m probably part of the problem at this point. That happens after leaving the confines of the skeptical community of Naked Capitalism and venturing too far into Democratic politics.

This site has important non-bullshit in-depth coverage of US politics, with an emphasis on billionaire machinations and Team Dem fecklessness; international hotspots, particularly in the Middle East and Latin America; the military-industrial-spook complex; and medicine, from science to practice to economics.

One of the more problematic unstated dynamics right now is the ‘Wile. E. Coyote’ style position of the U.S. car industry, as cheaper Chinese EVs using many fewer parts invade a poorly managed and structurally uncompetitive internal combustion vehicle centered American economy. I don’t know what to do about this terrifying dynamic, but I do know that to do something about it, you have to know what’s going on. And most policymakers don’t, while readers of Naked Capitalism do.

From Coffee Break to Saturday morning movies to daily links, to coverage of the Fed and crypto scams and private equity, that’s what you get here. The Truth.

It’s a grim moment, but there’s a quote I love from Louis Brandeis, which I often cite. “Despotism, be it financial or political, is vulnerable, unless it is believed to rest upon a moral sanction. The longing for freedom is ineradicable. It will express itself in protest against servitude and inaction unless the striving for freedom be made to seem immoral.”

As the mask of freedom slips and the true face of oligarchy peers grimly down at us, we will need everything we have to fight back. Including the truth. And that’s what you get here. No bullshit. Unvarnished. Sometimes I don’t like it or don’t agree, but it’s always nothing less than what Yves demands I know.

So if you can, give. Head to the donation page and contribute generously. And if you cannot, that is ok. Just read and learn, because we must all keep that light on, for ourselves.

I started reading this site in 2006, when the financial crisis was coming, and the curious had to go off the beaten path to find what was coming. The world has gotten worse, a lot worse. We went the wrong direction. We may not be able to stop. But if we are, it’s going to be because of the courage of people willing to tell the truth, and those willing to learn the truth no matter how painful.

And that’s worth preserving. So give, if you can. Head to the Tip Jar.

I say this every year, but I’ll say it again because it’s still true. If you believe, as I do, that a community of truth matters, then give what you can. If you have a lot, give a lot. If you have nothing, then give words of encouragement. It all matters.

If you want a note of optimism, here it is. Most Presidents gets punched in the face at some point in the first year of their administration. It happened to Bill Clinton as his health care bill fell apart, to Obama as the public lost faith in his bailouts, to Biden when he oversaw an unpopular withdrawal from Afghanistan, to Reagan as the economy slid into recession. It’ll likely happen to Trump. And there will be another opportunity to make a case for something different. But to make that case, you’ll have to know what’s going on. So keep reading Naked Capitalism, and forwarding it to your friends and putting the articles on the social media sites we all detest.

Or don’t. I’m not trustworthy at this point, it’s been too long since Yves has knocked any sense into me. I’ve gone native.