The Small Bank Bust
Tod Little could see trouble ahead for Silver State Bank when he opened the Las Vegas Review-Journal in June 2006. Five months earlier, Little had left Silver State, the institution he founded and built into a small but profitable business. More…
SEC Report: Employees Browsed Porn, Ran Private Businesses
The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a drubbing these days for its abject failure?despite detailed tips?to catch Bernie Madoff in what appears to be the biggest Ponzi scheme in our nation’s history. More…
Anatomy of a Bank Failure
As wildfires continue sweeping the financial markets, analysts and legislators agree on the need to sift through the ashes of earlier blazes to learn what went wrong and how to prevent future disasters. More…
The Rise of the Machine
How a small group of politicians and corporations bought themselves a legistlature.
Article Published on August 29, 2003
Fine Young Cannibals
The reporters providing us coverage of Elian Gonzalez seem to recognize they're taking part in a shark feed. And they just keep chomping. Article Published on February 10, 2000.
At the entrance to the Little Havana street where kindergartner Elian Gonzalez currently resides, two Porta Pottis stand ready to accommodate the press and crowds that regularly throng the block. On one an enterprising media member has tacked a sign that reads, "Welcome to Camp Elian." Almost anyone watching television on Monday, January 24, witnessed in full flower the madness that has touched down in Little Havana over this little boy. Not since Gianni Versace's murder in 1997 has South Florida witnessed such a crush of reporters. Read more...
Current Stories
The Wall Street Money Machine
Enticed by profits and bonuses, Wall Street took advantage of complicated mortgage-based instruments to reap billions, only to exacerbate the eventual crash.
The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going
The hedge fund Magnetar helped create mortgage-based securities, pushed for risky things to go inside them and then bet against the investments, resulting in billions in losses for investors and ultimately making the financial crisis worse. It’s a story of the perverse incentives and reckless behavior that characterized the last days of the boom. Read the story
Listen to "Inside Job" a radio episode Pro Publica co-produced with This American Life that aired on the award winning program on April 9, 2010.