Naked Capitalism: Your Indispensable Bullshit Detector

Never before have we had access to so much information, yet so much of it is worthless — or worse, intentionally misleading. Or worse still, totally fabricated. 

That is where NC comes in. It is your indispensable bullshit detector, providing early, accurate and fearless coverage and analysis of the most important trends and developments around the world, and it needs your support.

If you are currently in a financial sweet spot, please give generously at our donation page, both on your own behalf and to make up for those facing tighter budgetary constraints. You can also help out by sharing posts with friends and colleagues, by participating in comments, and by sending link candidates. Please contribute in whatever way you can!

Naked Capitalism, launched in 2006, will soon be 20 years old, having outlived many similar blogs and endured a multitude of crises — so many that we have become experts not just on crises but in crises, providing essential news and analysis while maintaining the blog as an open space for civil online dialogue, even as the world around us devolves into discord.

In a world like this, staying sane is a full time job, with no perks and no benefits. Fortunately, Naked Capitalism is here to lend a helping hand, by keeping us all abreast of what is really happening in the world today while also giving us somewhere to let off a little steam and share our thoughts and ideas with like-minded souls in a calm, civilised manner.

This, we believe, makes NC a hugely valuable resource, especially in such a polarised (and polarising) world. If you agree, please support our efforts by visiting the Tip Jar. 

Naked Capitalism is rare — an entirely non-partisan blog that began life as a go-to place for fearless commentary on economics and finance during the worst economic and financial crisis of the past half century. Since then it has branched out to cover more and more areas while maintaining its steely commitment to accuracy.

That commitment is more and more vital in a world drowning in bad, increasingly AI-generated data, bullshit thinking and state- or corporate-sponsored propaganda, especially as governments and companies use the excuse of mis-, dis- and mal-information to intensify their censorship of social media.

Naked Capitalism does not tolerate bullshit thinking, which, as you may have noticed, is rising rapidly these days.

Nor does this site brook wishful thinking, which is also, understandably, on the rise. When the economy serves only the interests of the already filthy rich, sending inequality and poverty soaring; when wars are sprouting on every continent and annual global military spending is at $2.7 trillion — 25 times what it would take to fix global hunger; and when even genocide is not a red line for our political class, it is easy to fall prey to false hopes.

“There must be some silver lining somewhere…”

That reaction, however understandable, is also, quite rightly, discouraged here.

A case in point: With the US, Israel, the UK and the broader collective West seemingly intent on slashing and burning the planet rather than sharing some of its spoils with the rest of the world, it’s easy to romanticise the BRICS. Prominent anti-globalists will happily reinforce that idea. But as Yves recently pointed out, the BRICS association is not even close to ready to take over the reins, and may never be:

I agree that unless there is some miraculous change on the US end, it will continue to push the Global Majority states together. But there does not seem to be much appreciation as to how hard it is to set up meaningful new international institutions with many members, because large number = more divergent interests. NATO is a weak alliance because prospective members would not sign up for anything that impinged too much on their national sovereignity. Ditto the UN. The post WWII institutional architecture was possible due to the US representing more than half of global GDP and Europe being greatly weakened as a result of the conflict.

Over the past decade Naked Capitalism has refused to don rose-tinted glasses, often adopting well-informed but unpopular positions on issues like Grexit and Brexit, the global pandemic response, including the COVID-19 vaccines, the West’s sanctions against Russia, the Milei government’s ‘economic miracle’ in Argentina, the rise of the BRICS’ currency. In the fullness of time, it has got almost all of these issues right. 

That does not mean that Naked Capitalism ignores the positive things that are happening all around us each and every day — the countless acts of generosity and courage that are real and should offer us hope as well as inspiration. On the contrary, there is arguably no better place for sharing and airing them than the Naked Capitalism Links page and its hugely interactive comments section.

The Links page is a vital, empowering, cathartic service that takes precious time, energy and discernment to curate, so please go to the Tip Jar and give as much as you can. $5, $50, or $5,000 are all appreciated. If you can only afford a little, then give a little. If you’re doing well, then please give more.

Thanks to its zero tolerance for bullshit, or wishful, thinking, Naked Capitalism can spend more time analysing and discussing the truly important issues that affect us in the realms of economics, finance, business, politics, geopolitics, science and academia.

It is not afraid to cover sensitive issues that other small-scale blogs might shy away from, including the decline of democracy in the West; the growing spectre of state censorship and repression, not just in the West but across the globe; the corruption of science and medicine; the proliferation of digital surveillance and control systems; the approaching launch of central bank digital currencies; and the clear and present dangers of artificial intelligence.

Naked Capitalism is also very good in, and on, crises. One of the main reasons for all the madness in the world today is that we are living through a global polycrisis, which Collins defines as “the simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events.”

Those overlapping events are taking place in finance, economics, politics, food and agriculture, health, medicine, technology, and on the battle field — the whole gamut. Perhaps gravest of all are the dual threats posed by the proliferation of geopolitical flashpoints and by our climate change inaction, both of which represent an existential crisis for the human species.

With all these crises occurring at the same time and interacting with one another, magnifying each other, is it any wonder that the world is going gradually madder?

But this is where Naked Capitalism is at its best. Forged in the fires of the Global Financial Crisis and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis, when so many of us were seeking to understand what was happening to and around us, Naked Capitalism has become adept at offering clear, no-nonsense coverage on crises of all kinds, from the GFC to Grexit and Brexit, to the COVID-19 pandemic, to the expanding wars and genocide, to the executive leadership crisis in the West.

Why is this so important?

Because we are living in an age not only of unprecedented crisis but also of unprecedented confusion. Never before have we had access to so much information, yet so much of it is worthless — or worse, intentionally misleading. Or worse still, totally invented. Deep fake videos are now a very real part of our reality.

Put simply, we’re going to need a lot of help making sense of this world as it gets more and more confounding. And Naked Capitalism is one of the best sense makers around. So, please dip into your pockets and give what you can. Every little penny, cent or dime is appreciated. 

Naked Capitalism is not just good on crises, it is good in a crisis. During the first Trump administration, when political discourse became so toxic in the US, this blog was able to maintain its irreplaceable comments section thanks to the creation and enforcement of strict, clear rules of engagement as well as the sterling work of the site moderators.

Those rules and work have helped to maintain civil discourse even during the most polarising moments of the past decade, and that has allowed Naked Capitalism to maintain one of its most important assets: its commentariat. As Yves has pointed out before (but it bears repeating), NC is even cited in journalism courses as an example of the sort of engaged audience that major media outlets think they want to but are generally unable to attract.

It’s not just the specialised knowledge, wisdom and humour that our commenters bring to the table; it is the human warmth and kindness they constantly show when other commenters are going through their own personal crisis. Despite almost never meeting in person, the members of this commentariat seem to share a rare bond of kinship. In these times of hardship, their warm words of support and encouragement can make all the difference.

And that, I believe, makes Naked Capitalism as good as unique, and something well worth paying to keep strong and fit as it approaches its 20th year of existence. If you haven’t already, please go the Tip Jar and make a donation.

This past year, however, NC has faced one of its biggest crises of all: the retirement of Lambert, whose absence since February is still sorely felt by both readers and writers. How could we replace the sheer breadth and quality of his political coverage in the daily Water Cooler; his sharp analysis, acid humour and deft command of the English language; and his near-constant interaction with the commentariat?

The answer is: you can’t, at least not with one person.

So, we have brought in three: Haig, Curro and Nat, all of whom have done a stellar job bringing the site through this crisis and into a new era. KLG and Conor have also taken on larger roles. That’s not to mention all the external contributors whose generous contributions help to bring added value and weight to this small, humble website, including Michael Hudson, Satjayit Das, Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Thomas Neuburger.

In this new era, Naked Capitalism will be able to offer even greater breadth of coverage on the geopolitical flashpoints in Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Latin America and Asia; the evolution of modern warfare; the myriad frailties of our financial and economic systems; the ongoing collapse of the liberal order in the West; the hopefully stoppable march of technofascism; and the crises affecting the scientific establishment and our healthcare systems.

Not bad for a hastily assembled seven-person crew! But to continue hitting the mark, we need your support, so please visit the Tip Jar and give generously.