This idea was revealed by what happened to Russia after it collapsed. This was so financially lucrative for all involved at pulling apart Russian social structure and helped create the oligarchs. This was seen as a great success. This same situation is happening here now.
Yes I don’t see anything can do except leave. Property taxes are high here. But hedge funds buying up rentals and cranking up rents. It’s becoming unaffordable to live in America. And politicians are bought off. Mitt Romney destroyed private pensions. The workers are squeezed more and more. Then the capitalists say why aren’t middle class having kids to make workers for them. Cognitive dissonance lol
The American public refuses to learn that any cruel and exploitative act of imperialism abroad will eventually be turned onto them as soon as it becomes more profitable to do it domestically. The chickens come home to roost.
This kind of thing is no more than legalized theft, that has had real life negative consequences for so many people who have no legal means for seeking any redress from the perpetrators. It's disgusting that such psychopathic behavior has been allowed to fly under the radar by somehow being considered business as usual.
Question? If this guy knows why Goberment doesn't?🤔. Why goberment allow that? Bevause Politicians are Puppets of those companies or Corporations ( those Companie3 bought those Politicians to look to other place and be their Conspirators
Michael Hudson is another good source on this subject. Also, Karl Polanyi described what happens when capital controls society, instead of society controlling capital almost 100 years ago.
We have done some work with him/he has spoken at some of our events, but you are right- it's been a while! Here is his lecture from our Berlin conference: th-cam.com/video/gX5RHhX8E2k/w-d-xo.html Also, on the subject of Polanyi, we have a great little series with Kari Polanyi discussing her work and the legacy of her father: www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/polanyi-on-polanyi
Ever noticed that conservatives were the ones who said “don’t trust government”. Yet, they’re the same ones who lobby it, wish to gain power from it and seek protection from it?
That is exactly the crux of it all. Corporations are a legal shield. That's why they have an obligation to act in the public interest. That obligation to act in the public interest is what Reagan and the neoliberals tore apart in the name of profit. The business model of private equity needs to be illegal again. And since corporations can't be expected to act in the public interest again, they need to be taxed enough to compensate for the harm they cause, and the legal shield they provide executives from their actions need to end. Executive who kill people need to be convicted of manslaughter if not murder.
@@paulbeatts 1/3 of the dollars invested in the US stock markets are from overseas investors. Russian and Chinese oligarchs don't care about Americans, all they want are stock buybacks, dividends and stock share price increases.
This is not a "plan to" - it's been going on for 40 years, which is beyond belief. What's truly painful is the absolute glee with which this is done. Here's the PE test: Q1: would you kill a little old lady Normal person A1: No PE A1: No Q2: Would you invest in a firm that rolls up nursing homes, cuts costs to the bone for profit (care, food, heating etc), and a little old lady dies (actually many have died)? Normal person A2: No PE A2: Yes, it's not the same thing.
2000 years ago we knew economics was about human feelings = greed, envy, anger, satisfaction, dreams etc. In order to understand economics, one has to understand humans. Would any mother/father believe it to be a good thing to print endless money for their kids, giving them endless debt.
Thank you so much for bringing this guest to us. This subject of his book is incredibly important to learn about right now, as it’s an issue that will affect us all in one way or another.
David Graeber has a great thought in his book, "The Utopia of Rules" (which is a great read btw) "Police are just bureaucrats with guns" that sums up so much to me. Luckily, some years back I read another great book "Permaculture, A Designers' Manual" by Bill Mollison which chock-full of wisdoms on how to live better and benign lives. That is what I chose to do, thank you very much for this powerful post.
Thanks for doing this research. Economists (and lawyers!) are getting better at informing the public in a way that convinces people to vote for economic reform, but we have so much work to do, and the risks are dire.
This problem is the direct result of economists and lawyers. To think they will offer a solution is insanity. This is a broken system, the end stages of capitalism will endure until it finally eats itself.
@@jamesmedina2062 and I think it’s your confusion. Remind me who brought us the too big to fail fiasco, or the savings and loans meltdown before that, seems to me there were mostly lawyers, bankers, economists, and politicians involved. How could that be any clearer?
There has been a 40+ year campaign to get Americans to blame the government for anything which goes wrong. Don't look at corporate or private power, they have many distracting and divisive ways of keeping attention off of those who are really screwing us over.
I worked for Citylink after they got took overy by private equity. Wages down, benifits down, breaks minimum requirement. Pain and anguish at work every day. Would be hard to overstate what this kind of thing does in human terms.
The last book I read that touched on private equity was Christopher Leonard's Lords of Easy Money. He related the story of how Jay Powell was involved in, and got very rich from, taking a manufacturing company private and the problems that caused for their employees (except the CEO who also made money by cooperating with the private equity company). Private equity firms seem to be headed by clever, legal, rich and unethical people who don't care about others. To rub salt in our own wounds, they are mostly funding their corporate takeovers by borrowing our money via intermediaries such as banks and shadow banking companies to our own disadvantage in many cases.
The other book that has an interesting observation on private equity is Edward Chancellor's excellent book "The Price of Time". He observes that the long period of ultra low interest rates since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 has been highly favorable to private equity as they have had to pay so little for their borrowed money which they use to so heavily leverage their acquisitions.
In an oligarchy the laws are not applicable to oligarchs. Remember the “too big to fail” bs? Not one prosecution for billions being stolen. End Stage Capitalism. Welcome to the end.
I listened your dialogue from the beginning to the end very tentatively. I appreciate your effort to change our society to better one, for better future. I extremely appreciate it.
In the UK, there have been similarly dubious arrangements involving private organisations' long term close financial associations with public services. It's called Private Finance Initiatives developed in the late '80s and early '90s by the Conservative government and subsequently implemented and established by the Labour government.
Also private equity in the uk as well , pound land , Debenhams , private gyms in canary warf , hotel chains etc channel 4 done a segment on it , do research as well if you know a company you for example shop in , gyms etc is getting a lot of complaints things being broken not being fixed etc gyms , hotel chains , spas chances are they are under private equity.
Nick Shaxon warned us about this in 2018 in his book, in which points out exactly the same thing. Shudderingly, his examples also emphasis nursing homes.
Thanks to Economic Thinking and the young author who brought this insidious corruption into the light. God bless him as was pointed out by the interviewer, the author is sacrificing a very potentially lucrative career and exposing the nefarious actions of these "profitable" equity companies who are legally exploiting our out of date or even non existent laws
NO...its more simple . You nationalise essential and human services. The government must run these secties accountable to the people. This is the basis if a civilised society. These sectors should not be in private hands driven by profits over human life. The private equity companies have absolutely proved themselves to be completely predatory and inhuman.
Agreed. Public funds in private hands is a core problem, because, there is no accountability for expenditures. In other words, fiduciary responsibility is stripped. Taxation without representation.
The other word for these practices is *Profiteering*. Also, we should consider broadly applying the term "Price-Gouging", or the taking advantage unfairly/immorally of some unfortunate issue in the market to (improperly) maximize profits in a way that, while technically "legal" the strict sense, is nevertheless not conscionable on other grounds. ...In fact, I've argued that we may want to really consider yet another term: *Racketeering*, which goes beyond the first term in that are really talking about violation of even strict legal parameters. ...And moreover, exercising or leveraging various power options to exacerbate the circumstances. In other words, when it's a "'racket", it's what we'd also called "rigged" against the interests of general public. Or, another way to put it is that Gordon Gekko, was either shady or doing insider trading. If he used his position and/or coersion to run multiple insider deals (which are unlawful or fraudulent), then that's running a racket. ...We should be talking about RICO statute prosecutions (which is how I thought the movie ended).
Pirates in the 18th century, hired by governments, were called privateers. This is privateered equity in some sense. My guess is that there is the same govt/pirate relationship, even if it’s not acknowledged.
In Boston area we are experiencing the failure of Steward Health hospitals in the area, hospitals are closing. Private Equity sold the assets and are now running away. These hospitals served the lower quintiles dependent upon Medicare. Big example.
Thank you guys so much for this video. 43:01 The gentleman is so right here. It feels like everyone is playing games in this system. Hearing that the 401(k) money is now being used by private equity is so frustrating and alarming. Like dang. Pensions are no longer a thing, Social Security May no longer be available when I retire and now this! 😢
 Thank you both! The percentage of homes bought in the SF Bay Area by private equity or institutional investors varies by city. In 2020, the percentage of homes bought by investors in the Bay Area was 15%! This drives up sales prices and the rents that will then be charged by the private equity investors.
Nihilism is required. The existing system of political economy in the US, which is racing toward fascism, needs to be totally abandoned by what's left of the middle/working class. This is well underway and may be described as suicidal at this point. We can only hope that our military-industial complex along with Wall Street and the federal government will refrain from killing people in foreign countries as it falls face down in the mud of its own hypocrisy.
And hope that Pharma stops doing the same to us here. At some point, all those JDs, PhDs and MBAs may realize that only sick people are ATM machines, not dead ones.
I will be reading this book! And passing it on to my young adult daughter who works at a powerful finance firm, NOT private equity. I told her she needs to avoid that industry, or she’ll be marked by the devil like Romney, Youngkin of VA, and many others. Private equity needs heavy regulation!
In 2001 Carlyle Group had offices on Pennsylvania Avenue, DC andincluded on its board George H Bush, John Major former British Prime Minister and former Philippines president Ferdinand Ramos.
I’m old. Taxpayers have bailed out banksters dozens of times in my awareness. No one has ever gone to prison for these financial crimes. 2008 big collapse, billions stolen, no one guilty. It seems the government and the banks and the corporations have formed their own game and citizens be damned. End Stage Capitalism.
The only remedy is forcible re- distribution. Most likey brought about by economic collapse caused by the unaffordable costs of maintaining the Military Industrial Complex by a Post Industrial society without a manufacturing base. That base having been stripped mined and exported years before.
Wondering whether PE companies have anything to do with the recent trend by one particular insurance company to start buying back life insurance policies?
As it relates to private equity acquisition, thru the treasury department and feferal reserve, prohibit FDIC insured institution from making loans whereby any of the proceeds are use to make a special dividend to the newly acquired. companies
I hoping that soon INET will address degrowth. It seems the path out of this crisis will be degrowth, whether we like it or not, and it will be by design or disaster.
Our Current FED Chair, 1997 to 2005, Powell was a partner at The Carlyle Group. Why not ask your Senator or Representative how much $$$ they have invested in the PE political economy?
"Inverted Totalitarianism" a term used by Sheldon Wollen in his amazing book , "USA, Inc" Corporations became the totalitarian state. We are owned by corporations.
My bank, brokerage, water utility, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, former employer in the auto service business, all recently acquired by wall street/ private equity cash. They want to own everything.
For the lawyers/academics: Regarding remedies, does anyone happen to know if it’s possible to use the reasoning in Jenson Farms v. Cargill to pierce through the liability shields PE firms have in place? About to start researching because I don’t have expertise in this area. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work except that fiduciary law seems to be regarded as so weak in the courts nowadays.
Telling people to use the system that corrupted the laws in the first place is total bull. Telling us the gov't will listen when it hasn't listened in 40 yrs is bull. We are left with nothing to use but violence. Nothing else works.
This realization is slowly dawning on folks everyday. Random acts of violence will increase, increasing police state actions until eventually we live under the boot of the oligarchy. Escape now, or face the coming storm.
The Federal Reserve Bank acts as public capital. The ability to create currency out of nothing and dispense it to politically favored businesses is the problem.
Too bad housing and food have to be privatized. Too bad we're only allowed free market solutions. It's a hard fact that not all Americans really can afford to go indoors and nobody wants us rejects eating well, either. Just the way our system is. Massive police and military powers keep us here.
@@GUITARTIME2024 whatever. Personally I'd like to see the middle class cured of their addictions, especially their insane car cult. Their fictional beliefs caused housing privatization in the first place. Their a mess all over our streets. Individualism run overboard. But that's not going to house everyone efficiently. It'd just feel better.
@@GUITARTIME2024from my perspective it’s mostly economic. Even the drug use is connected to income levels. Spin it this way, if it makes you feel better, just know, you’re probably wrong.
@Trace high levels of schizophrenia, borderline, various other personality disorders. Also, ask any homeiess and they'll tell you how many of their fellow comrades just want to get high. Its NOT mostly economic.
J. Powell made his over 100 million dollars in private equity - Carlyle Group - before he became Fed chief. Let's hope he's not acting on behalf of his old chums.
The DNC and RNC are NGO's that influence elections, via huge corporate donors and have armies of lobbyists and lawyers. Politicians are captured by big business, and are privy to insider information (ban stock trading by government officials). Since NAFTA, and the gutting of the manufacturing sector, unions have collapsed. The "financializtion" of the economy, absent the making of goods, has caused societal collapse. Cities become slums, crime, decreased property values and flight of the tax base. Budgets should be made with the needs of society first, taxes are dodged by Corporations and the wealthy. The Fed is the most opaque agency that is not answerable to the President or Congress. But we just keep bailing out failing banks and raising the debt ceiling. Ordinary people don't know much of what's going on, working up to 3 jobs to survive. Horrible.
29:57 ",,,heads I win, tails I get bailed out????" Politicians need money to run their re-election campaigns and answer to their investors...I mean constituents ; P
I'm just getting started here, really like it so far. I watch a lot of youtube financial stuff and there is really good stuff out there, BUT nobody talks about income inequality, even as a cyclical trend that could continue, level off, or begin reversing. Let's see what you've got to say.
In my opinion, lobbing culture should be criminalized. That's the number one problem we have. In American society, money is the God of people. I was told in Sweden, every company should show every money going out and coming in on the internet, so everybody can see them. So, secrecy is another big problem we have. Lack of transparency from top to bottom. Let everybody if somebody receive some money, let them show the money and its source, otherwise they have to give up their public position.
Cant believe the timid & polite language used while talking about predatory criminal capitalism . People are losing their sense of what is right and wrong. This is WRONG !!! It might be LEGAL but it's morally WRONG.
I believe that I join many who say that this is a real reminder of Russia in the 90's. My family lived through that damn catastrophe. The fact is that our "free market" involves a TON of government involvement in order to keep things running smoothly. Government secures the banking system, it builds the infrastructure, it supports the legap system that enforces contracts, etc. and so on. Without government involvement modern industrial capitalism would be asolutely impossible. That of course doesn't even consider how government social programs are required for healthy, educated employees. None of that comes for free. These billionaires want to leech off a system that enabled them to acquire tremendous wealth, but they don't want any od the obligation and responsibility that comes with it. On a separate note, I think he's making a grave mistake to rely on older generations to try to vote and fix this. Baby boomers caused all of this, unfortunately. Not only did they sell out their children and grandchildren in terms of the climate and ushering in the age of Reaganomics, now they are even screwing themselves. Older people regularly vote more conservative, largely due to decades of misinformation and indoctrination. All these problems were dropped in the lap of the younger generations, and we're gonna have to be the ones to fix it.
Americans are too ignorant of their position. Most are trapped in this rat race with little time to consider options. Others, driven into poverty by no fault of their own, are too immersed in day to day survival to even look up. Our country is doomed.
My Gawd, just think how efficient Private Equity could make the Department of Defense. Russia will meet its match and be charged for it too. And then onto the Federal Govenment. Efficiency and Profit.
The problem is capitalism. In capitalism you have to spend money to make money, the more you make the more you have to spend until 0.01% have all the money and buy up everything. And here we are.
Instead of spending money, one could risk labor and capital, but then again 10% make that work. It might help capitalism as a whole to find ways to insure taking productive risks or to find better ways to risk labor and capital.
Does he really believe government at any level cares. I'm amazed at the detachment and lack of advocacy. Ralph Nader or Michael Hudson would have been a stronger voice for this topic.
Maybe America (and the world) would be better off without the Federal Reserve, all the central banks. Please read and discuss 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. 5/10/2023 You Tube stopped dating videos. G'Day
You better read a book. Libertarian party created by the corporations in 1948 you're the fool. They have brainwashed you. Yea you can smoke pot, but I can drug test you not hire you or not sell to you p.o.s. You're the wrong religion, the wrong color. Lol my Libertarian rights. Get it now?
Honestly what this guy says is interesting but it’s long winded and windy like how lawyers speak. They draw out thoughts and it’s frustrating. “Busying themselves with unintelligible jargon” is a hood summary of this ethos in America. As a marxist / socialist we expect PE as a part of the beast of global corporate capitalism.
To me it will always be depressing to see smart Americans not realizing that the root of their inequality andinjustice(and consequently that of the world) is the fact that "democracy " is not what USA has. In the capitalist heaven,money is god. And USA has never had democracy anyway. The American "republic" is just an oligarchy with a friendly face (well,not so friendly for the many,the middleclass, theworkingclass or the weak/disabled/minorities). (None of the above mean that China or Russia are in better state. even in Europe the rot and the corruption have been spread like fire with the "assistance " of US corporations.
I worked for Citylink after they got took overy by private equity. Wages down, benifits down, breaks minimum requirement. Pain and anguish at work every day. Would be hard to overstate what this kind of thing does in human terms.
This idea was revealed by what happened to Russia after it collapsed. This was so financially lucrative for all involved at pulling apart Russian social structure and helped create the oligarchs. This was seen as a great success. This same situation is happening here now.
Yes I don’t see anything can do except leave. Property taxes are high here. But hedge funds buying up rentals and cranking up rents. It’s becoming unaffordable to live in America. And politicians are bought off. Mitt Romney destroyed private pensions. The workers are squeezed more and more. Then the capitalists say why aren’t middle class having kids to make workers for them. Cognitive dissonance lol
The American public refuses to learn that any cruel and exploitative act of imperialism abroad will eventually be turned onto them as soon as it becomes more profitable to do it domestically. The chickens come home to roost.
This kind of thing is no more than legalized theft, that has had real life negative consequences for so many people who have no legal means for seeking any redress from the perpetrators.
It's disgusting that such psychopathic behavior has been allowed to fly under the radar by somehow being considered business as usual.
really, how about sedition?
Question? If this guy knows why Goberment doesn't?🤔. Why goberment allow that? Bevause Politicians are Puppets of those companies or Corporations ( those Companie3 bought those Politicians to look to other place and be their Conspirators
Psychopathic and CRIMINAL... there is real criminality here dressed up as "free enterprise"... !!
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Only solution is to destroy the system.
Michael Hudson is another good source on this subject. Also, Karl Polanyi described what happens when capital controls society, instead of society controlling capital almost 100 years ago.
I wonder why they don't bring Michael Hudson
We have done some work with him/he has spoken at some of our events, but you are right- it's been a while! Here is his lecture from our Berlin conference: th-cam.com/video/gX5RHhX8E2k/w-d-xo.html
Also, on the subject of Polanyi, we have a great little series with Kari Polanyi discussing her work and the legacy of her father: www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/polanyi-on-polanyi
Everybody loves “Gordon Gekko” until he owns your company.
Ever noticed that conservatives were the ones who said “don’t trust government”. Yet, they’re the same ones who lobby it, wish to gain power from it and seek protection from it?
@@dangelo1369nobody loves Gordon Gecko. Maybe losers wishing they were him, sound familiar?
Limited liability is a large part of the problem. Corporations need to be held fully responsible for their actions - as any person is.
That is exactly the crux of it all. Corporations are a legal shield. That's why they have an obligation to act in the public interest. That obligation to act in the public interest is what Reagan and the neoliberals tore apart in the name of profit. The business model of private equity needs to be illegal again. And since corporations can't be expected to act in the public interest again, they need to be taxed enough to compensate for the harm they cause, and the legal shield they provide executives from their actions need to end. Executive who kill people need to be convicted of manslaughter if not murder.
Yes...limited by shares. We have no access to private equity who owns it .
@@paulbeatts 1/3 of the dollars invested in the US stock markets are from overseas investors. Russian and Chinese oligarchs don't care about Americans, all they want are stock buybacks, dividends and stock share price increases.
If they are considered persons, I mean corporations than they need to be held accountable like people are.
They never will be
This is not a "plan to" - it's been going on for 40 years, which is beyond belief. What's truly painful is the absolute glee with which this is done. Here's the PE test:
Q1: would you kill a little old lady
Normal person A1: No
PE A1: No
Q2: Would you invest in a firm that rolls up nursing homes, cuts costs to the bone for profit (care, food, heating etc), and a little old lady dies (actually many have died)?
Normal person A2: No
PE A2: Yes, it's not the same thing.
Pretty sure the PE A1 wouldn't reply, "no", to the first question.
2000 years ago we knew economics was about human feelings = greed, envy, anger, satisfaction, dreams etc. In order to understand economics, one has to understand humans. Would any mother/father believe it to be a good thing to print endless money for their kids, giving them endless debt.
Are you familiar with the Powell Memo? It's a 1972 plan for the corporate takeover of media, government, and regulatory agencies.
Private equity wouldn't answer no, they would ask for how much money
Imho; what Private Equity did to Sears should be considered as criminal, and should be subject to investigation and, likely, prosecution.
Absolutely TRUE. Agree.
It’s like they’re destroying the competition as a preemptive business move. All adds up to monopolization.
@@mtn1793 They didn't care about Sears or its competition. They only care about themselves.
In the past it was. But the regulations and laws were modified enforcement made selective.
And the other 1000’s of businesses they bankrupted.
New Economic Thinking, as a program, never fails to deliver insights. Thank you.
After 7 hours just over 1000 views. Majority don't understand it.
Thank you so much for bringing this guest to us. This subject of his book is incredibly important to learn about right now, as it’s an issue that will affect us all in one way or another.
"I love a good diagnosis but without a remedy you're deepening the despair." Great quote.
David Graeber has a great thought in his book, "The Utopia of Rules" (which is a great read btw) "Police are just bureaucrats with guns" that sums up so much to me. Luckily, some years back I read another great book "Permaculture, A Designers' Manual" by Bill Mollison which chock-full of wisdoms on how to live better and benign lives. That is what I chose to do, thank you very much for this powerful post.
Thanks for doing this research. Economists (and lawyers!) are getting better at informing the public in a way that convinces people to vote for economic reform, but we have so much work to do, and the risks are dire.
I’m a Democrat. Wall Street gives 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 to our party. The working class used to be our bread and butter.
This problem is the direct result of economists and lawyers. To think they will offer a solution is insanity. This is a broken system, the end stages of capitalism will endure until it finally eats itself.
@@Trace-l7k I think you are confused about what economists and lawyers do.
@@jamesmedina2062 and I think it’s your confusion. Remind me who brought us the too big to fail fiasco, or the savings and loans meltdown before that, seems to me there were mostly lawyers, bankers, economists, and politicians involved. How could that be any clearer?
@@Trace-l7k Big difference between a banker and economist. You are lumping together very different people and careers.
I'm glad you posted this video. But the topic has been obvious to children since the mid 1980s
Maybe to you... most are totally unaware or the would have never allowed it.
It’s the end results of capitalism coming home to roost. Remember, you are what you eat. Wanna be rich?
There has been a 40+ year campaign to get Americans to blame the government for anything which goes wrong. Don't look at corporate or private power, they have many distracting and divisive ways of keeping attention off of those who are really screwing us over.
I worked for Citylink after they got took overy by private equity. Wages down, benifits down, breaks minimum requirement. Pain and anguish at work every day. Would be hard to overstate what this kind of thing does in human terms.
Not really. It's already happened once in the US (the Gilded Age and Great Depression) and in Europe (feudalism).
The last book I read that touched on private equity was Christopher Leonard's Lords of Easy Money. He related the story of how Jay Powell was involved in, and got very rich from, taking a manufacturing company private and the problems that caused for their employees (except the CEO who also made money by cooperating with the private equity company). Private equity firms seem to be headed by clever, legal, rich and unethical people who don't care about others. To rub salt in our own wounds, they are mostly funding their corporate takeovers by borrowing our money via intermediaries such as banks and shadow banking companies to our own disadvantage in many cases.
The other book that has an interesting observation on private equity is Edward Chancellor's excellent book "The Price of Time". He observes that the long period of ultra low interest rates since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 has been highly favorable to private equity as they have had to pay so little for their borrowed money which they use to so heavily leverage their acquisitions.
These are people like Mitt Romney, with no empathy for average Americans.
Public money often funds research. Think oil, covid, etc.
Private corporations profit and we pay. The elites have zero ethics.
Thank you Mr ballou for your moral integrity 💪
Very illuminating! I can't wait to dive deeply into the details of the book! Laws are needed to check abuse of power.
Corruption of law is the problem. The politicians benefiting from the corruption have no incentive to fix it.
In an oligarchy the laws are not applicable to oligarchs. Remember the “too big to fail” bs? Not one prosecution for billions being stolen. End Stage Capitalism. Welcome to the end.
Private Equity benefits greatly from zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) and they are a major political force behind wanting the Fed to return to this.
Vulture capitalism.
Absolutely. Nationalise human and essential services. Private sector cannot be trusted. People are dying and they don't care. It's actually criminal.
Affirmative action = Vulture capitalism.
I listened your dialogue from the beginning to the end very tentatively. I appreciate your effort to change our society to better one, for better future. I extremely appreciate it.
Ballou is a HERO, for choosing to be a public servant over a Private Equity employee. Thank you Mr. Ballou. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
In the UK, there have been similarly dubious arrangements involving private organisations' long term close financial associations with public services. It's called Private Finance Initiatives developed in the late '80s and early '90s by the Conservative government and subsequently implemented and established by the Labour government.
Also private equity in the uk as well , pound land , Debenhams , private gyms in canary warf , hotel chains etc channel 4 done a segment on it , do research as well if you know a company you for example shop in , gyms etc is getting a lot of complaints things being broken not being fixed etc gyms , hotel chains , spas chances are they are under private equity.
Thank you! A clear, necessary, courageous, and meaningful education was provided in this conversation!
Nick Shaxon warned us about this in 2018 in his book, in which points out exactly the same thing. Shudderingly, his examples also emphasis nursing homes.
An excellent discussion! I’ll be sharing this video and the information it contains! ❤
Thanks to Economic Thinking and the young author who brought this insidious corruption into the light. God bless him as was pointed out by the interviewer, the author is sacrificing a very potentially lucrative career and exposing the nefarious actions of these "profitable" equity companies who are legally exploiting our out of date or even non existent laws
NO...its more simple . You nationalise essential and human services. The government must run these secties accountable to the people. This is the basis if a civilised society. These sectors should not be in private hands driven by profits over human life. The private equity companies have absolutely proved themselves to be completely predatory and inhuman.
Agreed. Public funds in private hands is a core problem, because, there is no accountability for expenditures. In other words, fiduciary responsibility is stripped. Taxation without representation.
Results of a free market electoral bribery system.
The other word for these practices is *Profiteering*. Also, we should consider broadly applying the term "Price-Gouging", or the taking advantage unfairly/immorally of some unfortunate issue in the market to (improperly) maximize profits in a way that, while technically "legal" the strict sense, is nevertheless not conscionable on other grounds.
...In fact, I've argued that we may want to really consider yet another term: *Racketeering*, which goes beyond the first term in that are really talking about violation of even strict legal parameters. ...And moreover, exercising or leveraging various power options to exacerbate the circumstances. In other words, when it's a "'racket", it's what we'd also called "rigged" against the interests of general public.
Or, another way to put it is that Gordon Gekko, was either shady or doing insider trading. If he used his position and/or coersion to run multiple insider deals (which are unlawful or fraudulent), then that's running a racket. ...We should be talking about RICO statute prosecutions (which is how I thought the movie ended).
Pirates in the 18th century, hired by governments, were called privateers. This is privateered equity in some sense. My guess is that there is the same govt/pirate relationship, even if it’s not acknowledged.
In Boston area we are experiencing the failure of Steward Health hospitals in the area, hospitals are closing. Private Equity sold the assets and are now running away. These hospitals served the lower quintiles dependent upon Medicare. Big example.
America's current mottos: Be rich or be gone
Show me the money and I could care less how you get it ...
Social Darwinism
@@flovv4580 you got me researching soc dar....
Thank you guys so much for this video.
43:01 The gentleman is so right here. It feels like everyone is playing games in this system. Hearing that the 401(k) money is now being used by private equity is so frustrating and alarming. Like dang. Pensions are no longer a thing, Social Security May no longer be available when I retire and now this! 😢
Yes, thank you and will look forward to his book and hopefully he pulls more likewise people like himself in our government
Listening from Detroit right now.

Thank you both!
The percentage of homes bought in the SF Bay Area by private equity or institutional investors varies by city. In 2020, the percentage of homes bought by investors in the Bay Area was 15%!
This drives up sales prices and the rents that will then be charged by the private equity investors.
Nihilism is required. The existing system of political economy in the US, which is racing toward fascism, needs to be totally abandoned by what's left of the middle/working class. This is well underway and may be described as suicidal at this point. We can only hope that our military-industial complex along with Wall Street and the federal government will refrain from killing people in foreign countries as it falls face down in the mud of its own hypocrisy.
And hope that Pharma stops doing the same to us here. At some point, all those JDs, PhDs and MBAs may realize that only sick people are ATM machines, not dead ones.
This channel is gold
Congratulations to you both for this worthy discussion. This is the real meaning of praxis!
I will be reading this book! And passing it on to my young adult daughter who works at a powerful finance firm, NOT private equity. I told her she needs to avoid that industry, or she’ll be marked by the devil like Romney, Youngkin of VA, and many others. Private equity needs heavy regulation!
In 2001 Carlyle Group had offices on Pennsylvania Avenue, DC andincluded on its board George H Bush, John Major former British Prime Minister and former Philippines president Ferdinand Ramos.
Sounds like these thieves need to be imprisoned when their actions lead to a need of government bail-outs.
I’m old. Taxpayers have bailed out banksters dozens of times in my awareness. No one has ever gone to prison for these financial crimes. 2008 big collapse, billions stolen, no one guilty. It seems the government and the banks and the corporations have formed their own game and citizens be damned. End Stage Capitalism.
This was incredibly insightful.
The only remedy is forcible re- distribution. Most likey brought about by economic collapse caused by the unaffordable costs of maintaining the Military Industrial Complex by a Post Industrial society without a manufacturing base. That base having been stripped mined and exported years before.
Wondering whether PE companies have anything to do with the recent trend by one particular insurance company to start buying back life insurance policies?
Not a religious scholar but i seem to recall a relevant quotation that goes "for the love of money is the root of all evil."
This is the result of a lousy unregulated system .
which is a result of we the people, the true authority and law enforcement, completely failing to govern our slaves/servants/government (same thing).
As it relates to private equity acquisition, thru the treasury department and feferal reserve, prohibit FDIC insured institution from making loans whereby any of the proceeds are use to make a special dividend to the newly acquired. companies
Small correction- The quoted lyric is actually a Buffalo Springfield song. Good video!
Very illuminating. Contact your governors.
This predatory system is a gross caracature of what functional capitalism is supposed to be.
There is a difference between Quakers Capitolism and Vulture Capitolism.
Plain old Criminology.
I hoping that soon INET will address degrowth. It seems the path out of this crisis will be degrowth, whether we like it or not, and it will be by design or disaster.
That 15 minute phone call from prison not only costs $25 Dollars, it's also being recorded and will be used against you in court
Our Current FED Chair, 1997 to 2005, Powell was a partner at The Carlyle Group. Why not ask your Senator or Representative how much $$$ they have invested in the PE political economy?
Great great video👏🏾👏🏾
"Inverted Totalitarianism" a term used by Sheldon Wollen in his amazing book , "USA, Inc"
Corporations became the totalitarian state. We are owned by corporations.
My bank, brokerage, water utility, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, former employer in the auto service business, all recently acquired by wall street/ private equity cash. They want to own everything.
For the lawyers/academics:
Regarding remedies, does anyone happen to know if it’s possible to use the reasoning in Jenson Farms v. Cargill to pierce through the liability shields PE firms have in place? About to start researching because I don’t have expertise in this area. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work except that fiduciary law seems to be regarded as so weak in the courts nowadays.
Private Equity challenges the need for the construction of new factories here in America.
Privatized profits. Socialized costs. Corporate Socialism.
This is America.
Telling people to use the system that corrupted the laws in the first place is total bull. Telling us the gov't will listen when it hasn't listened in 40 yrs is bull. We are left with nothing to use but violence. Nothing else works.
This realization is slowly dawning on folks everyday. Random acts of violence will increase, increasing police state actions until eventually we live under the boot of the oligarchy. Escape now, or face the coming storm.
Sounds like a right wing "solution".
Does Toys-R-Us fit in here? Also, Frontline, The Pension Gamble? Contingencies are crucial. Could public banks, public capital work better?
The Federal Reserve Bank acts as public capital. The ability to create currency out of nothing and dispense it to politically favored businesses is the problem.
Banksters are the problem. They breathe greed and sweat profit.
No surprises here, bedstead America is a business not a country.
Too bad housing and food have to be privatized. Too bad we're only allowed free market solutions. It's a hard fact that not all Americans really can afford to go indoors and nobody wants us rejects eating well, either. Just the way our system is. Massive police and military powers keep us here.
Yes, nothing to do with drug addiction, criminal choices, wearing out family members. Lol.
@@GUITARTIME2024 whatever. Personally I'd like to see the middle class cured of their addictions, especially their insane car cult. Their fictional beliefs caused housing privatization in the first place. Their a mess all over our streets. Individualism run overboard. But that's not going to house everyone efficiently. It'd just feel better.
@@GUITARTIME2024from my perspective it’s mostly economic. Even the drug use is connected to income levels. Spin it this way, if it makes you feel better, just know, you’re probably wrong.
@Trace high levels of schizophrenia, borderline, various other personality disorders. Also, ask any homeiess and they'll tell you how many of their fellow comrades just want to get high. Its NOT mostly economic.
@@GUITARTIME2024 thanx but the middle class are gasoline addicted denialists clogging the streets we need back for a community.
Time to dismantle *Shareholder* capitalism and move to *Stakeholder* capitalism.
Time to dismantle ̶S̶h̶a̶r̶e̶h̶o̶l̶d̶e̶r̶ capitalism and move to ̶S̶t̶a̶k̶e̶h̶o̶l̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶ ̶c̶a̶p̶i̶t̶a̶l̶i̶s̶m̶.̶ socialism. Fixed that for you.
Ain't happening soon. Still plenty of sheep to fleace .
@@vg7985 Klaus Schwab will make it happen
@@tuckerbugeater Don't put your faith in a nazi slaver to make things better lol
Jump right out of the frying pan and straight into the fire 🔥
J. Powell made his over 100 million dollars in private equity - Carlyle Group - before he became Fed chief. Let's hope he's not acting on behalf of his old chums.
As if…
Really a great dialogue
Please spell out what the letter you've referring to again??!!
May start a grass-roots action.
The DNC and RNC are NGO's that influence elections, via huge corporate donors and have armies of lobbyists and lawyers.
Politicians are captured by big business, and are privy to insider information (ban stock trading by government officials).
Since NAFTA, and the gutting of the manufacturing sector, unions have collapsed. The "financializtion" of the economy, absent the making of goods, has caused societal collapse. Cities become slums, crime, decreased property values and flight of the tax base.
Budgets should be made with the needs of society first, taxes are dodged by Corporations and the wealthy. The Fed is the most opaque agency that is not answerable to the President or Congress. But we just keep bailing out failing banks and raising the debt ceiling. Ordinary people don't know much of what's going on, working up to 3 jobs to survive. Horrible.
No surprise here. Yet we continue to watch this unfold without consequences
they are pirates.
An honest lawyer. Perhaps there is a God.
😂❤
Im suspicious of DOJ employee doung anything to bute the hand tbat feeds him.
29:57 ",,,heads I win, tails I get bailed out????" Politicians need money to run their re-election campaigns and answer to their investors...I mean constituents ; P
I'm just getting started here, really like it so far. I watch a lot of youtube financial stuff and there is really good stuff out there, BUT nobody talks about income inequality, even as a cyclical trend that could continue, level off, or begin reversing. Let's see what you've got to say.
In my opinion, lobbing culture should be criminalized. That's the number one problem we have. In American society, money is the God of people. I was told in Sweden, every company should show every money going out and coming in on the internet, so everybody can see them. So, secrecy is another big problem we have. Lack of transparency from top to bottom. Let everybody if somebody receive some money, let them show the money and its source, otherwise they have to give up their public position.
Cant believe the timid & polite language used while talking about predatory criminal capitalism . People are losing their sense of what is right and wrong. This is WRONG !!! It might be LEGAL but it's morally WRONG.
I believe that I join many who say that this is a real reminder of Russia in the 90's. My family lived through that damn catastrophe. The fact is that our "free market" involves a TON of government involvement in order to keep things running smoothly. Government secures the banking system, it builds the infrastructure, it supports the legap system that enforces contracts, etc. and so on. Without government involvement modern industrial capitalism would be asolutely impossible. That of course doesn't even consider how government social programs are required for healthy, educated employees. None of that comes for free. These billionaires want to leech off a system that enabled them to acquire tremendous wealth, but they don't want any od the obligation and responsibility that comes with it.
On a separate note, I think he's making a grave mistake to rely on older generations to try to vote and fix this. Baby boomers caused all of this, unfortunately. Not only did they sell out their children and grandchildren in terms of the climate and ushering in the age of Reaganomics, now they are even screwing themselves. Older people regularly vote more conservative, largely due to decades of misinformation and indoctrination. All these problems were dropped in the lap of the younger generations, and we're gonna have to be the ones to fix it.
Debt based currency seems to underlie this ponzi.
Allegedly, Netanyahu to the jailed Jonathan Pollard in 2002: “Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away.”
How can you be an antitrust lawyer in DOJ and not know what private equity is??? Didn’t you ever read Den of Thieves?
GOOD MAN.... the people have no idea
"Plan"??? Did you mean ... "decades-long, highly successful campaign"?
Absolutely
The Powell Memo.
You quoted Bob Dylan " There's something happening here and you don't know what it is, do you, Mr Jones. A Bob Dylan quote, not CSNY.
We are in big trouble
Buffalo Springfield, Rob, Buffalo Springfield. Yes, Stills was in it, but still …
I thought that didn't sound right.
Public shaming those shameful predatory players could not hurt. Make the movie… telling the truth about the owners and investors….
CLASS WAR!
Americans are too ignorant of their position. Most are trapped in this rat race with little time to consider options. Others, driven into poverty by no fault of their own, are too immersed in day to day survival to even look up. Our country is doomed.
Vultures
My Gawd, just think how efficient Private Equity could make the Department of Defense.
Russia will meet its match and be charged for it too.
And then onto the Federal Govenment. Efficiency and Profit.
The problem is capitalism. In capitalism you have to spend money to make money, the more you make the more you have to spend until 0.01% have all the money and buy up everything. And here we are.
Instead of spending money, one could risk labor and capital, but then again 10% make that work. It might help capitalism as a whole to find ways to insure taking productive risks or to find better ways to risk labor and capital.
Lol. It lifted at least a billion people out of poverty.
@@GUITARTIME2024 And maintains a system that keeps billions in "relative" poverty.
@bakedbean37 yes because socialism has really worked. Lol. Disaster everywhere it's tried.
@@GUITARTIME2024 Translation: Baaaaaa Baaaaaaa
Does he really believe government at any level cares. I'm amazed at the detachment and lack of advocacy. Ralph Nader or Michael Hudson would have been a stronger voice for this topic.
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth .
Maybe America (and the world) would be better off without the Federal Reserve, all the central banks. Please read and discuss 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. 5/10/2023 You Tube stopped dating videos. G'Day
Indeed.
All public assets need to be given to private equity for one penny on the thousand dollars. Rich people run things far better than government.
Vote Libertarian 💯 noobs 🔥🔥🔥
You better read a book. Libertarian party created by the corporations in 1948 you're the fool. They have brainwashed you. Yea you can smoke pot, but I can drug test you not hire you or not sell to you p.o.s. You're the wrong religion, the wrong color. Lol my Libertarian rights. Get it now?
Just make sure to keep your receipts. Oh, wait,...
Libertarians are merely tools for billionaires.
Where have Libertarian policies worked?
Honestly what this guy says is interesting but it’s long winded and windy like how lawyers speak. They draw out thoughts and it’s frustrating. “Busying themselves with unintelligible jargon” is a hood summary of this ethos in America.
As a marxist / socialist we expect PE as a part of the beast of global corporate capitalism.
Get old move to mexico, bring your wealth.
To me it will always be depressing to see smart Americans not realizing that the root of their inequality andinjustice(and consequently that of the world) is the fact that "democracy " is not what USA has.
In the capitalist heaven,money is god. And USA has never had democracy anyway.
The American "republic" is just an oligarchy with a friendly face (well,not so friendly for the many,the middleclass, theworkingclass or the weak/disabled/minorities).
(None of the above mean that China or Russia are in better state.
even in Europe the rot and the corruption have been spread like fire with the "assistance " of US corporations.
You live in a fantasy world
@@tuckerbugeater What did he say that is wrong, oh fan of the WEF?
and you are willfully ignorant and rolling in the stupid. Miss me with the propaganda oh bootlicker. This is for the Putin pushing idiot.
Wasn't that the founding fboys' business model?
I worked for Citylink after they got took overy by private equity. Wages down, benifits down, breaks minimum requirement. Pain and anguish at work every day. Would be hard to overstate what this kind of thing does in human terms.
Mitt Romney is very informed on these hostile takeovers. Remember Bain capital and their bs. It’s as old as capitalism.
@@Trace-l7k Romney was rewarded with taxpayer money for shipping companies overseas.