565. Are Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy? | Freakonomics Radio

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.)
FOLLOW FREAKONOMICS RADIO:
UA-cam: freak.ws/3yIl6dl
Apple Podcasts: freak.ws/3yAvQh0
Spotify: freak.ws/3TsdCmV
ABOUT FREAKONOMICS RADIO:
Discover the hidden side of everything with host Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers to uncover things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) - from the economics of sleep to the future of education, from markets for marriage to the surprising utility of wolves.
ABOUT THE FREAKONOMICS RADIO NETWORK:
Freakonomics began as a book, which led to a blog, a documentary film, more books, a pair of pants, and in 2010, a podcast called Freakonomics Radio. Hosted by Stephen J. Dubner, it’s one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with a reputation for storytelling that is both rigorous and entertaining. Its archive of more than 500 episodes is available, for free, on any podcast app, and the show airs weekly on NPR stations. Freakonomics Radio is now the flagship show of the Freakonomics Radio Network, which includes the podcasts No Stupid Questions, People I (Mostly) Admire, and The Economics of Everyday Things.
FREAKONOMICS RADIO NETWORK PODCASTS:
Freakonomics Radio: freakonomics.c...
No Stupid Questions: freakonomics.c...
People I (Mostly) Admire: freakonomics.c...
The Economics of Everyday Things: freakonomics.c...
Special series: freakonomics.c...
CONNECT WITH US:
[e-mail]
/ freakonomics
/ freakonomics
/ freakonomics
/ freakonomicsradio
/ freakonomics-media
Subscribe to our newsletter: eepurl.com/bKm0cf

[@ryak2]

More often than not private equity does not understand what they're buying in spite of their ostensibly special educations at whatever supposedly reputable high-end school. They throw a bunch of money at it, try to grow it, convince another idiot that it's a great buy, and then they make a couple percent selling it all the while ruining the business and not having understood any of it the entire time. Some of them get it right but most of the time it's what I've written here. If the dollar figure is big enough, 1% is plenty.

[@Ryanrobi]

As the dairy farmer who has many friends that are veterinarians with a lot of college debt I can empathize with them but why in the world would you make the average taxpayer pay for someone with a doctoral degree who will make much more money in their lifetime? That's what debt forgiveness is, The debt still gets paid by the taxpayers and it will get inflated away It's decreases the purchasing power of the average person who is being financially prudent. One of my good friends is a graduate of Cornell veterinary School and was a partner in the rather large veterinary practice in upstate New York and all the senior partners financed it to the junior partners who had significant college debt instead of selling out so it's absolutely possible.

[@inveele]

You don’t live in a bubble. Ph.D. graduates pay taxes just like you, and their contributions help fund the very systems that support your industry. The knowledge sector, where many of them work, drives more GDP growth than agriculture. So, dollar for dollar, it actually benefits you to encourage more Ph.D.s by supporting the relief of their student debt.

[@ytqclys]

The name mobile home comes from the fact that they were first made in Mobile, Alabama. Not because they are designed to be easily moved.

[@tonycollyweston6182]

Private Equity should be made illegal like hard drugs.

[@jackrabbitjake]

Sure sounds like a lot of Jewish names involved with this story.. Are you uncovering some kind of financial mafia?