Private Inequity (Print edition title: "Bain of our Lives?")

By artappraiser on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 2:15am |

By James Surowiecki, The New Yorker, "Financial Page" column, Jan. 30, 2012 issue

[....] the real problem with leveraged-buyout firms isn’t their impact on jobs [....]
The real reason that we should be concerned about private equity’s expanding power lies in the way these firms have become increasingly adept at using financial gimmicks to line their pockets, deriving enormous wealth not from management or investing skills but, rather, from the way the U.S. tax system works. Indeed, for an industry that’s often held up as an exemplar of free-market capitalism, private equity is surprisingly dependent on government subsidies for its profits [.....]

URL:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/01/30/120130ta_talk_surowiecki#ixzz1kGLlJuYE