A twist on New York Times writer's debt-binge tale

New York Times economics reporter Edmund L. Andrews' tell-all book about his personal plunge into ruinous debt didn't quite tell all, blogger Megan McArdle at TheAtlantic.com discovered.

Andrews’ second wife, Patty Barreiro, sought bankruptcy protection in 1998 and again in 2007, McArdle wrote in a post last week.

Barreiro’s bankruptcies weren’t mentioned in Andrews’ book, "Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown," or in the widely circulated excerpt that ran in the New York Times Magazine on May 17. I wrote a post on the excerpt here.

The book chronicles Andrews’ and Barreiro’s mortgage and credit-card debt binges beginning in 2004, and how insanely imprudent banks were only too happy to keep throwing money their way.

In the excerpt, Andrews also revealed the discord between himself and Barreiro over spending decisions.

Andrews wrote:

We were both building up grudges. "You can’t keep second-guessing me," she told me angrily. "It’s small-minded and petty, and it’s not very attractive." I was beginning to wonder whether she had any clue about how money worked. We were lurching from paycheck to paycheck, one big home repair away from disaster.

After unearthing the information about Barreiro’s bankruptcies, McArdle wrote:

Andrews’ desire to shield his wife is understandable -- hell, laudable. No decent person wants to parade their spouse's financial trouble in front of the world. But this is material information that changes the tenor of his story. Serial bankruptcy is not a creation of the current credit crisis, and it doesn't just happen to anyone, particularly anyone with a six figure salary.

After McArdle posted the information on her blog late last week, Edmunds Andrews responded to a query by PBS. He confirmed that the bankruptcies had occurred but asserted that they had "nothing to do with our mortgage woes. They were both tied to old debts from before we were married or bought a house. They had nothing to do with my ability to get a mortgage; nor did they have anything to do with our subsequent financial problems."

Go here for Andrews’ response and for McArdle’s detailed response to his response.

I think her main point is valid enough: The bankruptcies were relevant to the story.

She wrote:

That kind of living up to the edge is, indeed, exactly what Andrews describes happening in his marriage. The bankruptcies suggest that this may be a symptom of a pre-existing problem, rather than the easy credit of the past five years.

-- Tom Petruno

Comments

[barb]

What a joke this book is and that this is an ECONOMICS editor of the NYT! He really thinks the fact that his wfe has a history of mismanaging money is not material to their story? Does 'everyman' file for bankruptsy while making $170K and again to avoid paying a sister back?

Let's hope no one rewards these cheaters by buying the book.

[Carol]

When Andrews' column is up for renewal, I hope the NYT thinks hard about not renewing. An econ reporter who can't control his own finances doesn't instill trust. Why would I want to read his columns?

[martscan]

Andrews is delusional and he married what my father would have called "a money slut." They deserve each other. Worse, sans mentioning his wife's chronic financial pecadillos, old, new or whenever, Andrews is undeniably culpable of intellectual dishonesty in writing the book. Literary sins of omission are just as grievous as the other kind. Let's face it, the guy's book is something of a fraud.

[steve]

Mr Andrews is misleading and trying to deceive people about his wifes bankruptcies through omission and downright deception of their details.Anybody knows that you cannot shake your tax debt by declaring bankruptcy.How dumb does Mr Andrews think we are?

More importantly thissad tale shows how wall st is more a function of the human element and psychology than it is of cool,cold numbers.You can know how to crunch all the numbers correctly but it wont do you any good if you cant restrain yourself from ignoring what the numbers are telling you and what the market psychology is.MR Andrews should have known as everybody aside from mortgage and RE agents knew, that the RE market was a sham and that a collapse was imminent.The numbers didnt support a robust market.With 70-80% of RE being bought with subprime loans Mr Andrews knows better but his emotions and not his numbers got the better of him and millions of others who got swept up in the euphoria and mania that RE was never gonna stop going up.Wall st,economics,finance are more a science of human emotion than of numbers.You buy when everybody is screaming depression and you sell when everyone is screaming about unlimited prosperity.There is nothing harder than to go against the herd psychology and make your decisions against the herd.That is why so few succeed on wall st. or in real estate.Mr Andrews despite knowing all the numbers couldnt seperate his emotions from being swept up with the herd.
What is sad is that he is now engaging in ridiculous deception about his wifes finances.Pathetic really and all too common in the finance community.

[KH]

This proves that not only companies but Everybody tries to put it all on the mortgage crisis and get an easy way out.

[Nevada Fisherman]

Actually I am a little sympathetic to Mr. Andrews. He was brutally honest about his situation. I think he married a woman who has no concept about money. Two bankruptcies indicates that she is unable to economize; she has a serious money problem. I do not think he would have been in this situation had he not gotten involved with her. I can really understand why he wanted to shield his wife. He loves her. Both need marriage counseling.

[Brian]

This also means that the bank that made them the huge loan knew they had a previous bankruptcy. I find it funny that no one mentioned this. Loaning money to people who you know can't pay it back is part of the mortgage crisis, though not every case is simple.