● The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself
Hettie O’Brien
Review via The Guardian
Private equity partnerships are groups of individual and institutional investors with deep pockets. O’Brien traces their rise following the era of deregulation inaugurated by Reagan and Thatcher, and details how Blackstone, the Qatar Investment Authority, Macquarie, KKR and others have bought undervalued assets using borrowed money to minimise their exposure to risk. What happens next is that costs, wages and investment in the future are frequently cut to the bone in the cause of exceptionally high returns.