The collusion of Private Equity consortiums has changed the landscape of investment opportunities, tilting the scales always in the favor the wealthiest 1%. This new landscape began to flourish in the early 1980s and has mushroomed in such large scales, that only acts of Congress can recreate a level playing field. Few have faith that this will ever happen.
I will share my personal story below depicting how, in fact, the present system is designed to squash/kill entrepreneurial enterprise.
What I find mindboggling is the fact that the stock market investment opportunities are now in the hands of Private Equity Firms who collude. These firms have bought up so many small companies, merging them into controlling behemoths it is astonishing and, quite frankly, beyond the budgets of "news organizations" to track and report.
The stock market has become a sham where rubes go to gamble and/or quant-designed computer programs buy and sell huge volumes of shares at lightening speed, gleaning huge gains whether the stock price goes up or down.
We rubes don't have a prayer against this playing field, with rare exceptions.
I know it's not new news, as Wikipedia broadcasts the consortium collusion between the Private Equity Firms here. Here's the Wiki named colluding consortium PE Firms who have been joining forces to buy control of everything. Just to mention a few markets they are gaining control of: medical supplies/services, donuts, communication monopolies, African retail outlets, and construction materials. The major consortium colluders listed are:
Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group, The Blackstone Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Merrill Lynch, KKR, Silver Lake Partners, TPG Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, Vornado Realty Trust, Clayton, Dubilier & RiceRecently the NYTimes broadcast that the Private Equity Firms actually collude with each other to determine who gets to win the buyout bids. If Robert Kennedy or Teddy Roosevelt were here, they would stomp all over this trend towards monopolization of markets!
What I find stunning is the little reporting on the impact of the consortium collusions.
On the one hand, we have the conservatives shouting "Free Markets" "Free Enterprise" "Entrepreneurs this, Entrepreneurs that" while, at the same time squashing the chances for "the little guys" with their behemoth enterprises controlling most market sectors now.
My Story
I was once one of "the little guys." I learned a hard lesson: The easiest way for the consortium colluders to kill small businesses is to ramp up an economic crisis and freeze credit. I know this first hand.
In 1988, I invented a fashion product.
1989 first year sales were $125,000, the first purchase order was $25,000 (what a scramble to produce that was).
1990, second year sales were $250,000. The product received "Most Innovative Product Award" in a fashion magazine.
1991, third year we were snuffed out.
I sat in front of my friendly banker that I had done business with for 11 years (3 other small viable businesses) with $60,000 worth of purchase orders received for just one week of August, 1991.
A huge world-wide retailer's $12,000 "test order" for Christmas was included, which would have been at least 10x for the XMass order.
I couldn't get a dime of credit anywhere. I tried everywhere. Why?
The Savings & Loan crooks had moved from Dallas to New England in the mid 1980s and croaked the banks with bogus deals. Bankers in my town actually went to jail.
In January 1991 the FDIC seized the bank and placed it into Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.[16] To avoid an expected bank run due to panic, the FDIC insured all accounts, even those above the $100,000 insurance limit, with the total cost of the bailout estimated at $2.3 billion.[16] The FDIC indicated that a panic at the Bank of New England would have created a systemic risk to the entire financial markets.The FEDS moved in and seized control of banking in New England. There is a commercial chain reaction when the FEDS move in and take control of banks: Lending freezes.
Lending freezes kill small businesses.
My business was snuffed out and I lost everything, including my house. My other three small businesses, which were 11 years running, were snuffed out because my customers were snuffed out.
Consortium collusion kills small businesses. These groups wield huge power with the banks whose own investment groups are part of the consortium colluders. When they choose, they can croak the economy. Wh
1991 was a literally a blood bath in New England very similar to what happened at the end of the 8 year GOP reign in 2008. Several small business owners, unable to get their annual bridge loans, actually committed suicide. The unemployment rate jumped to 13.5%!
Why? Just like every other so-called Financial Crisis, the Big Kids cause the system to crash. The Big Kids, with some exceptions, have little to lose because they have enough to support a few generations of their prodgeny stashed in secret offshore bank accounts like Mitt Romney has. In short, when you have hundreds of $Millions to fall back on, the rest of the money these people play with is funny money to them. For that matter, they mostly play with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY anyway and make their fortunes via fees.
In retrospect, perhaps I should have gone to Bain Capital. Oh, wait! I hadn't heard of them and I didn't belong to a Country Club where I might have heard of them. Then again, I was too small potatoes for them anyway.
The Private Equity Consortium Colluders have now put the entire world economies at risk. In time, if not stopped, we will find our purchasing options becoming more and more limited.
In communism, the State controlled the monopolies and that didn't end well, although China seems to be booming.
What will it be called if the Private Equity Consortium Colluders own everything?
And at what risk will it be, if America elects a key player in the Private Equity Consortium Collusion as President. I shudder to think.
Will they be stopped?
End of my story
I'm retired now, on a fixed income. I don't dare place my nest egg in the hands of Wall Street. The most I can receive on my nest egg is 2% interest. Utility costs are skyrocketing. Food prices are skyrocketing. Gas prices are skyrocketing. The cost of a new car is double the price of the first home I built. And Medical co-pays are such that I just don't go to the doctor EVEN with Medicare.
It seems to me, the new playing field is designed to strip my generation of every dime we have via inflation and medical costs, forcing us then to use our property equity as ransom IF we have to use the health care system for any major medical event.
TO THE YOUTH, the new system is designed in such a way that you stand little chance to receive any inheritance.
WE MUST BANISH THE GOP and DINOS from government locally, state-wide, and nationally.
We need an FDR revival! We need to reign in the Private Equity Consortium Colluders before they actually BUY OUR GOVERNMENT!
End of rant.