Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Capitalism was envisioned—and is still defended—as a vehicle for growth. This growth was meant to increase everyone's share of the pie. But one of the most opaque and unregulated finance sectors got its fingers into that pie—and built a mechanism to extract wealth from the very companies, public services and infrastructure it buys.
Welcome the the world of private equity, a shadow fleet of financial vehicles which are buying up our homes, schools, nurseries, roads, technology and everything in between—and yet that we know very little about. Journalist Hettie O'Brien, author of the newly released The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself, joins me to expose just how wide the influence of this crooked sector is, explaining how over the past few decades private equity has undermined democracy, caused avoidable deaths in care homes, lobbied—and secured—access to our pensions, and has driven economic stagnation. Crucially, private equity does not create value—it extracts it, with no thought for the consequences which are offset onto the rest of us while the super rich get even richer off of our misfortune.
🔴 The Asset Class (UK version): uk.bookshop.org/a/17225/9781399619288
🔴 The Asset Class (USA version): bookshop.org/a/122791/9781538766569
🌎 Support Planet: Critical: patreon.com/planetcritical
🌎 Subscribe: planetcritical.com
🌎 BSky: https://bsky.app/profile/racheldonald.bsky.social
Capitalism was envisioned—and is still defended—as a vehicle for growth. This growth was meant to increase everyone's share of the pie. But one of the most opaque and unregulated finance sectors got its fingers into that pie—and built a mechanism to extract wealth from the very companies, public services and infrastructure it buys.
Welcome the the world of private equity, a shadow fleet of financial vehicles which are buying up our homes, schools, nurseries, roads, technology and everything in between—and yet that we know very little about. Journalist Hettie O'Brien, author of the newly released The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself, joins me to expose just how wide the influence of this crooked sector is, explaining how over the past few decades private equity has undermined democracy, caused avoidable deaths in care homes, lobbied—and secured—access to our pensions, and has driven economic stagnation. Crucially, private equity does not create value—it extracts it, with no thought for the consequences which are offset onto the rest of us while the super rich get even richer off of our misfortune.
🔴 The Asset Class (UK version): uk.bookshop.org/a/17225/9781399619288
🔴 The Asset Class (USA version): bookshop.org/a/122791/9781538766569
🌎 Support Planet: Critical: patreon.com/planetcritical
🌎 Subscribe: planetcritical.com
🌎 BSky: https://bsky.app/profile/racheldonald.bsky.social
