By Ignacio Ramonet.
While critics of the economic horrors of globalisation argue, a new
and even more brutal form of capitalism is in action. The new
vultures are private equity companies, predatory investment funds
with vast amounts of capital at their disposal and an enormous
appetite for more.
Their names, among them the Carlyle Group, KKR, the Blackstone Group,
Colony Capital, Apollo Management, Cerberus Partners, Starwood
Capital, Texas Pacific Group, Wendel, Euraze, are still not widely
known. And while still a secret they are getting their hands on the
global economy. Between 2002 and 2006 the capital raised by these
funds from banks, insurance companies, pension funds and the assets
of the super-rich rose from $135bn to $515bn. Their financial power
is phenomenal, more than $1,600bn, and they cannot be stopped. In the
United States, the principal private equity firms invested some
$417bn in takeovers last year and more than $317bn in the first
quarter of 2007, acquiring control of 8,000 companies. One American
in four and almost one Frenchman or woman in every 12 now works for them.
<http://mondediplo.com/2007/11/01leader>Link
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