Stop the Steal: Revisiting Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America (with Brendan Ballou)
Listen now
Description
Private equity is looting America by exploiting vulnerable companies and extracting profits at the expense of workers, communities, and the broader economy. They've been buying up companies in every industry in the U.S. Economy and stripping them for parts. These massive firms have vast holdings across critical industries essential to the health and well-being of everyday people. Some recent examples include private equity's role in education, utilities, housing, and even in the healthcare sector, which led to the closure of hospitals and nursing homes, endangering public health. We thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode from 2023 with Brendan Ballou, a federal prosecutor and the author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America. In this episode, he explains how we can stop private equity’s plan to pillage America. This episode originally aired on July 25, 2023. Brendan Ballou is a federal prosecutor and served as Special Counsel for Private Equity in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Previously, he worked in private practice, and before that, in the National Security Division of the Justice Department, where he advised the White House on counterterrorism and other policies. Twitter: @brendanballou Further reading:  Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America The Guardian - Slash and burn: is private equity out of control? Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
More Episodes
This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout, who explains the urgent need for federal action on corporate price-gouging. Professor Teachout identifies misconceptions about price controls and highlights the failure of mainstream economists to recognize that...
Published 10/08/24
This week, Nick and Goldy welcome sociologist Nikhil Goyal to discuss his new book, Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, which highlights the deep-rooted effects of generational poverty in America by focusing on the experiences of three young people in Kensington, Philadelphia....
Published 10/01/24