Dylan Ratigan

Dylan Ratigan
Born	Dylan Jason Ratigan April 19, 1972 (1972-04-19) (age 39) Saranac Lake, New York
Occupation	Television journalist and show host
Notable credit(s)	Host of MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show
Official website

Dylan Jason Ratigan (born April 19, 1972(1972-04-19)) is an American television host primarily covering financial markets, the global economy, and politics. He is host of The Dylan Ratigan Show which airs weekday afternoons on MSNBC.^[1] He is also a frequent contributor on The Huffington Post.

Early life

Ratigan was born in the village of Saranac Lake in upstate New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political economics from Union College in Schenectady, where he was a member of the crew team.^[2]

Journalism career

Ratigan served as the Global Managing Editor for Corporate Finance at Bloomberg News Service, and before that had covered Mergers and Acquisitions, the U.S. Stock Market and IPOs. At Bloomberg, he co-created and hosted Morning Call for Bloomberg's cable network and the USA Network.^[2] He has served as a contributor to ABC News and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Miami Herald and Chicago Tribune.^[2]

Ratigan was the host of Fast Money (co-created with Susan Krakower^[2] and launching on June 21, 2006). Previously, he was the first anchor of CNBC's On the Money. He also anchored the CNBC TV program Bullseye for about a year and a half. In addition to his former duties as co-anchor on Closing Bell, Ratigan was a rotating co-anchor of The Call.

Ratigan left CNBC on March 27, 2009 when his contract ended. The New York Times reported he was considering all options but quoted him as saying he was dedicated to covering the economy, "the story that is affecting every American in every setting."^[3]

Morning Meeting launched June 29, 2009.^[4] Ratigan also contributes to other NBC News programs. Ratigan described the show's imperative as "to discuss any and all political issues with no directive other than to provide compelling content."^[5] The show was the second ever on the network to air in HD, as the network launched their programming in that format.^[6]

MSNBC announced in December 2009 that, beginning in January 2010, Ratigan would no longer host Morning Meeting and would instead host a new program, The Dylan Ratigan Show which debuted on January 11 and airs weekday afternoons.^[1]

On May 27, 2010, Ratigan appeared as a guest host on the daily internet news and opinion show, The Young Turks. Cenk Uygur, regular host of The Young Turks is a frequent guest on The Dylan Ratigan Show.

Reporting

Ratigan reported on NASCAR for the program NASCAR Gold and about Las Vegas for Las Vegas, Inc on CNBC on Assignment.

Ratigan won the Gerald Loeb Award for 2004 coverage of the Enron scandal.^[2]

In Ratigan's final CNBC broadcast from the floor of the NYSE he reported on what he called "an important story developing" that Goldman Sachs and "a variety of European banks," in his assessment and that of his guests, essentially "perpetrated securities fraud" and an "insurance fraud scam" against AIG — and, by extension, the government and taxpayers funding that insurance company's "bailout" — by insuring their questionable investment vehicles and, upon their devaluation, making claims on them to be paid by AIG "at 100 cents on the dollar" despite all of the markdowns "being forced upon every other" entity including the government, banks, shareholders, bond holders, taxpayers and homeowners.^[7]

"I think that it should be a bigger political issue than whether somebody bought an airplane ... Forget the private jets, forget who got a million dollar bonus. Fifty billion dollars," he said, minimizing what he saw as populist side issues to "the real question" of how "government policy makers" are to deal with the "problems of contract law" inherent in the agreements of businesses receiving government assistance during the financial crisis.^[7]

"The banks are being asked to take 'haircuts' on their toxic assets, why are the Goldmans and the Deutsche Banks of the world not being asked to take haircuts on their toxic credit default swaps? It's a real question. I will continue to pursue it for sure, I hope others will as well." Ratigan praised New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's subpoena of AIG to determine the bank payouts as "legitimate inquiry" and looked forward to "a body of lawmakers in Washington D.C. who are going to ask, it appears, some of the same questions that I'm asking." ^[7]

2011 rant

On the August 10, 2011, broadcast of The Dylan Ratigan Show, in a round table discussion of the market meltdown following the Budget Control Act of 2011, Ratigan went on a two-minute-long rant against what he perceived to be the state of politics in the United States government, saying:

"We've got a real problem! This is a mathematical fact! Tens of trillions of dollars are being extracted from the United States of America. Democrats aren't doing it, Republicans aren't doing it. An entire integrated system, financial system, trading system, taxing system, that was created by both parties over a period of two decades is at work on our entire country right now. And we're sitting here arguing about whether we should do the $4 trillion plan that kicks the can down the road for the president for 2017, or burn the place to the ground, both of which are reckless, irresponsible, and stupid."^[8]

The video of his impassioned speech went viral^[9] and was praised by other media sources. TV Newser wrote that it was "a powerful, emotional editorial on the economy and Washington".^[10] On a followup post on his website the day after he wrote that he had received a lot of positive mail from viewers, writing "I’m mad as hell. And according to the piles and piles of responses I got after my rant, so are you."^[11]

Appearances

Ratigan appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2008 to discuss the financial crisis.^[12] He has also appeared on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert^[13] and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[14]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} (December 14, 2009) "New lineup for msnbc dayside in 2010", MSNBC.com. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Dylan Ratigan profile". CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837985/. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
3. ^ Carter, Bill (2009-03-27). "Dylan Ratigan of CNBC’s ‘Fast Money’ Leaves Network". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/business/media/28cnbc.html. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
4. ^ Guthrie, Marisa (June 28, 2009) "MSNBC Aims to Raise Profile with HD", Broadcastingcable. com.
5. ^ "Dylan Ratigan joins MSNBC Former CNBC anchor will host 9-11 a.m. on MSNBC Beginning June 29". MSNBC Press Release. 2009-05-06. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30602284. 
6. ^ Shea, Danny (2009-06-29). "MSNBC Goes HD, Launches Dylan Ratigan, Dr. Nancy Snyderman Shows". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/29/msnbc-goes-hd-launches-dy_n_222167.html. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Dow Makes Gains". CNBC Video. 2009-03-26. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1074021503. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
8. ^ Dylan Stableford. "Video: MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan has a meltdown over the meltdown". Yahoo! News, 8/10/2011.
9. ^ Kim LaCapria. "‘Ratigan Rant’ Goes Viral as Dylan Ratigan Melts Down on Air [Video".] The Inquisitr, 8/11/2011.
10. ^ Alex Weprin. "A Tale of Two Segments: Righteous Indignation and a Ridiculous Flub on MSNBC". TV Newser, 8/10/2011.
11. ^ Dylan Ratigan. "America’s Mad as Hell Moment".
12. ^ Winfrey, Oprah. "Dylan Ratigan on Oprah". Oprah Appearance. Oprah.com. http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Money-Saving-Tips-for-Thrifty-Families/3. 
13. ^ Colbert, Stephen. "Guest". Apperances. Comedy Central. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/343700/august-10-2010/dylan-ratigan. 
14. ^ Conan, O'Brien. "Late Night". Dylan Ratigan. NBC. http://vimeo.com/1446478. 

External links

• Dylan Ratigan biography on MSNBC
• Daily Beast profile of Dylan Ratigan
• From CNBC Business Journalist to Critic of Bankers on MSNBC from The New York Times