| Sign up for my free newsletter here: https://www.mauldineconomics.com/go/JM563Z4/YTB Private equity is buying up America—everything from nursing homes to hardware stores and the local plumbing business. As today’s guest Brendan Ballou notes, “When you look at the number of employees that these portfolio companies employ, Blackstone, Carlyle, and KKR, not necessarily in that order, they would be the third, fourth, and fifth-largest employers in the United States behind just Walmart and Amazon.” Globally, the value of private equity deals rose 14% in 2024 to $2 trillion. This isn’t a bad thing on its face—there are plenty of great people doing good work in private equity. But some, including my friend and former Wall Street trader Jared Dillian, are calling it a bubble. Brendan Ballou says the real trouble with PE comes from weak regulations that incentivize problematic decision making—and effectively absolve PE when things go wrong. This is the crux of his new book Plunder. In our interview you will also hear: • Why private equity doesn’t face the same oversight as Wall Street • Why private equity is targeting industries funded by government programs, including long-term care facilities • How PE firms exploit bankruptcy law • How private equity firms shift pension obligations, potentially onto taxpayers Learn more about Brendan Ballou’s book Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brendan-ballou/plunder/9781541702103/?lens=publicaffairs Follow Brendan Ballou on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-ballou-2546801b7/ Sign up for Ed D’Agostino’s free newsletter here: https://www.mauldineconomics.com/go/JM563Z4/YTB Follow Ed D’Agostino on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-d-agostino-415475296/ Follow Ed D’Agostino on X (Twitter): https://www.x.com/EdDAgostino Learn more about Jared Dillian’s work on the private equity bubble here: https://shortprivateequity.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 01:46 – The good side of private equity 02:51 – The PE behemoth 05:08 – Too big to fail? 11:16 – PE takes on nursing homes 16:07 – Financial engineering and the dividend recap 22:37 – PE moves into government-financed industries 27:34 – PE’s effect on small business 30:30 – Capitalists at heart |
Each week, investors and financial professionals around the globe turn to John Mauldin to better understand Wall Street, global markets, and the drivers of the world economy. And for good reason. John is a noted financial expert, a New York Times best-selling author, a pioneering online commentator, and the publisher of one of the first publications to provide investors with free, unbiased information and guidance—Thoughts from the Frontline—one of the most widely read investment newsletters in the world.
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