I appreciate your efforts and I’m so glad that Matt and Dave had you on their podcast. It was very illuminating. I do think we live in a time when we have more of a burden to pay attention to both the big picture and the small picture, and to hone our skills in toggling back and forth between them. But it certainly helps to start with the local and the issues that touch us directly!
Hello. Not trying to be a pest but I thought people interested in the private equity question (What is it good for?) might be interested in a new Racket News post by Eric Salzman: “Private Equity and Insurance? You Bet Your Life... and Maybe Your Pension! A huge accident just waiting to happen…” (July 28, 2025).
It’s the insurance sector (fixed-income “products,” like pensions) in this article, that the majority need to work reliably when we can no longer get a job to support ourselves). Predictably, there are a few commentators who benefit from PE and have contempt for those who are the victims of these predations, and have no solution or interest in finding a solution.
Therein lies a big problem in that there is a dividing line between those who are playing the game of finance capitalism and those who are just living with the consequences of finance capitalism. It doesn’t work for everybody, it is designed that way.
Unlike the industrial sectors themselves, that benefit or suffer from time to time due to the unpredictability of global capitalism, PE has so much freedom globally (more than any of us) it seems that it can manage unpredictability better than any industrial sector. Is that a valid statement?
This was a great show! I was in Costco yesterday and I was accosted by a young woman representing AT&T while wheeling my way to the check-out. It was annoying but I was polite. AT&T is perhaps not yet a casualty of private equity, but I’d need to look into it.
I am not at all surprised to hear what your fascinating guest revealed about the Costco parasites and the host (thank you, Michael Hudson), but you are right to explore if and how it can be fought.
Gathering the data is essential but being informed is not enough. Consumer protections are insufficient and remedies seem insufficient too. What remedy can stem the rights of private equity in any business against the rights of consumers, and is that even the right way to frame the problem? I think we need to rethink the relative lack of power in the term “consumer,” which is not simply a philosophical quibble on my part. I, personally, do not identify as a consumer, but I acknowledge that people do and we have been taught to think in those terms by well-intentioned arguments. Today, I think, we need to be a bit more skeptical.
Just to be clear, I am not advocating throwing away a term that creates a sense of unity on a whim. I’m suggesting that maybe the “sense” of unity as consumers is deceptive. Unity needs to be grounded in a rational reality of shared experience, not subjective feelings. That is a battleground with which, like it or not, we are all getting familiar in these times. Neoliberalism is neither ‘left’ nor ‘right:’ It’s all about sucking up the assets and resources that remain to be sucked up, and any narrative that furthers the success of the goal is worth pitching to walk away with the winnings.
Excellent post and I agree with you. Right now I'm trying to get motivated to get some local zine action going on this, pointing out all the restaurants being gobbled up in our city by Rourke Capital and the alternatives to them. They purchased Sonic (along with so many other restaurants that have a big presence here ) which was in Oklahoma City company and gutted most of the jobs and no one really seems aware of the whole story because it's been very tightly managed with excellent public relation ghouls.
It all starts with local and everyone paying attention to their municipalities rather than the far off distant things they want us talking about... Organize Town Halls at your library, call in to local talk if you have any... Try to get some print out on this type of stuff... It's quite a battle but there is a lot we can do and we certainly have to be wary of things like "consumer power" in certain areas. But when we get hyper local I think we can make a difference.
Yes, local is a great place to take action. Keep shopping the businesses still locally owned and operated. Join co-ops. They might not be 100% of your spending but every % helps.
Great podcast! It highlights the enshittification of everything through private equity (cf. health care). Thanks to your guest, Steve Hunt, for clearly explaining how consumers pay for "organized money".
I appreciate your efforts and I’m so glad that Matt and Dave had you on their podcast. It was very illuminating. I do think we live in a time when we have more of a burden to pay attention to both the big picture and the small picture, and to hone our skills in toggling back and forth between them. But it certainly helps to start with the local and the issues that touch us directly!
Hello. Not trying to be a pest but I thought people interested in the private equity question (What is it good for?) might be interested in a new Racket News post by Eric Salzman: “Private Equity and Insurance? You Bet Your Life... and Maybe Your Pension! A huge accident just waiting to happen…” (July 28, 2025).
It’s the insurance sector (fixed-income “products,” like pensions) in this article, that the majority need to work reliably when we can no longer get a job to support ourselves). Predictably, there are a few commentators who benefit from PE and have contempt for those who are the victims of these predations, and have no solution or interest in finding a solution.
Therein lies a big problem in that there is a dividing line between those who are playing the game of finance capitalism and those who are just living with the consequences of finance capitalism. It doesn’t work for everybody, it is designed that way.
Unlike the industrial sectors themselves, that benefit or suffer from time to time due to the unpredictability of global capitalism, PE has so much freedom globally (more than any of us) it seems that it can manage unpredictability better than any industrial sector. Is that a valid statement?
This was a great show! I was in Costco yesterday and I was accosted by a young woman representing AT&T while wheeling my way to the check-out. It was annoying but I was polite. AT&T is perhaps not yet a casualty of private equity, but I’d need to look into it.
I am not at all surprised to hear what your fascinating guest revealed about the Costco parasites and the host (thank you, Michael Hudson), but you are right to explore if and how it can be fought.
Gathering the data is essential but being informed is not enough. Consumer protections are insufficient and remedies seem insufficient too. What remedy can stem the rights of private equity in any business against the rights of consumers, and is that even the right way to frame the problem? I think we need to rethink the relative lack of power in the term “consumer,” which is not simply a philosophical quibble on my part. I, personally, do not identify as a consumer, but I acknowledge that people do and we have been taught to think in those terms by well-intentioned arguments. Today, I think, we need to be a bit more skeptical.
Just to be clear, I am not advocating throwing away a term that creates a sense of unity on a whim. I’m suggesting that maybe the “sense” of unity as consumers is deceptive. Unity needs to be grounded in a rational reality of shared experience, not subjective feelings. That is a battleground with which, like it or not, we are all getting familiar in these times. Neoliberalism is neither ‘left’ nor ‘right:’ It’s all about sucking up the assets and resources that remain to be sucked up, and any narrative that furthers the success of the goal is worth pitching to walk away with the winnings.
Excellent post and I agree with you. Right now I'm trying to get motivated to get some local zine action going on this, pointing out all the restaurants being gobbled up in our city by Rourke Capital and the alternatives to them. They purchased Sonic (along with so many other restaurants that have a big presence here ) which was in Oklahoma City company and gutted most of the jobs and no one really seems aware of the whole story because it's been very tightly managed with excellent public relation ghouls.
It all starts with local and everyone paying attention to their municipalities rather than the far off distant things they want us talking about... Organize Town Halls at your library, call in to local talk if you have any... Try to get some print out on this type of stuff... It's quite a battle but there is a lot we can do and we certainly have to be wary of things like "consumer power" in certain areas. But when we get hyper local I think we can make a difference.
Yes, local is a great place to take action. Keep shopping the businesses still locally owned and operated. Join co-ops. They might not be 100% of your spending but every % helps.
Great podcast! It highlights the enshittification of everything through private equity (cf. health care). Thanks to your guest, Steve Hunt, for clearly explaining how consumers pay for "organized money".