Private Equity Faces A Popular Uprising
"Private equity is a force for good."
Yesterday, in London, the Masters of the Universe confronted the Masters of Great Britain. A group of four representatives from the private equity industry appeared before a committee of the House of Commons to defend their business. What are they defending it against? A popular uprising. People are getting sick of hearing about all the money made by the financial industry. They are beginning to sharpen their guillotines and heat up the tar.
Meanwhile, the Masters of the USA - and by pretension, of the whole Empire - prepared their own version of The Terror. Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, both eminent defenders of the US Constitution, Homeland Security and Efficient Market Hypothesis, proposed to increase taxes on private equity firms.
It was inevitable. People will only stand for so much liberty...and not a bit more. Right now, the hustlers are free to make as much as they want - thanks largely to the EZ cash and credit available to the financial industry. They are bidding for works of art...for baubles and trifles...for houses...for stocks and bonds...for just about everything. They have so much money that they are able to throw it around recklessly...which is galling to people who have much less.
Eventually, the have-nots begin to get a little sour on the whole system. And the politicians, rushing to get ahead of a trend and squeeze some money from people who are richer than they are, soon raise the banners of "fairness" and "equality."
Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning Australia
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About the Author
Best-selling investment author Bill Bonner is the founder and president of Agora Publishing, one of the world's most successful consumer newsletter companies. Owner of both Fleet Street Publications and MoneyWeek magazine in the UK, he is also author of the free daily e-mail The Daily Reckoning.