We know little about the rich

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.

via wood s lot