"First we overlook evil, Then we permit evil. Then we legalize evil. Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those who still call it evil." Fr. Dwight Longenecker “In the Last Days, Good will be called Evil and Evil will be called Good.” Are We There YET ?
Yes - unfortunately most people have reached the conclusion that FREEDOM is evil and bondage to government is noble - so yes - we are in the final stages of civilization. Once it crashes and our heirs begin to rebuild, they will have learned that ONLY free people are worthy. Those of you calling for more and bigger government are our downfall.
They seem to go through certain industries. loot it, then move on to another. They have hit student housing, nursing homes, trailer parks, etc. They do seminars to teach people how to find those properties and situations for them too. People only think of the making money part and don't notice they are making it worse for everyone and helping those big corporations to cheat people and raise prices.
I recently had a veterinarian at my house for a party. She said exactly this, every vet office is corporate owned now. It’s obvious their sole purpose is to take every last dollar outta your pocket. Greed has destroyed our lives, we simply cannot win up against this level of greed. Corporations buying family homes should be illegal.
VCA veterinarian "care"+ Mars Candy. Feed to shots... Dogs can live to 35. In the US, they tell you 7 years big , 14 years small, for average expected lifespan. Excessive morbidity and mortality in US pets, humans and OTHER commodity live stock (actually dying UNnaturally before birth. Protect your genes.
They did the same with medical offices over the last 10 yrs as well. AFTER they'd bought up Hospitals nationwide then proceeded to shut down 2/3 of them, which all began in the 90's.
When we were house hunting, we were twice "outbid" by private equity firms that were offering cash (they paid less money than we were offering, but it was cash, which the seller wants, understandably). Finally, one of the sellers - a couple who had owned this house for years - caught onto who was "outbidding" us and sold to us anyway, because they wanted this house to go to a family that gave a crap about it. So we got the house... and then about a year after we bought the house, a private equity firm bought the mortgage company we use. They will always win, until Congress bans them or seriously restricts them. To add the ultimate insult to injury, now, three years later, the company I work for has been bought and taken private, and my last day is middle of November. All of our jobs are going overseas. We are training our replacements and working our assess off, to secure the severance they really already owe us. My feeling is that this won't stop until the entire country is nothing but people who work at fast food restaurants and in retail, for pennies. Also, the fact they use pirate ships in their logos is what we call "on the nose."
they have your mortgage, now they have your job. If you have a 401k you probably gave them your untaxed earnings to help support their cause as well. When I learned this I took all my cash out of the 401k. evil they are EVIL!!!!
The seller gets the full payment immediately whether they take a "cash" offer or take a check from the bank you got a mortgage from... your realtor basically lied to you. You got outbid in terms of money paid in some way. Maybe they paid closing costs or something.
As someone who has been running my software design and consulting company for the past +20 years, I've witnessed firsthand how private equity (PE) has increasingly decimated my teams over the past three years. The notion that these 'smart' PE professionals swoop in like SWAT teams to 'save' companies is a complete myth. I've seen disastrous decisions where high-value, high-cost employees/contractors are laid off, only to be replaced by low-cost, low-value offshore teams. Ironically, we were initially brought in to resolve the tech debt and poor UX design processes that these offshore teams had already created. It's often the case that companies looking to sell to PE artificially boost their profitability by bringing in these low-cost teams, leaving the PE firm, if they're not careful, holding the bag. But after reading this article, that doesn’t even matter, it's the employees/contractors that are. The result is a double blow: the first wave of layoffs happens before the PE buyout, and then another round follows post-acquisition so they can siphon any profits to the investors and just continue with layoffs This trend is creating a widening gap between the white-collar workers who actually perform these tech jobs and those at the top who are cashing out. It's a sad reflection of what's happening to businesses in the U.S. today. Check out this article on medium - medium.com/alpha-beta-blog/the-private-equity-illusion-29a2527c05e4
As a 70 year old who has watched with alarm this happening over the last 3 decades, it is good to see more and more younger people catch on. Too many are oblivious to reality, so it is good to see some young people trying to sound the alarm.
@@kensmith5694 Of course you can go back much further; how about 1913? Think 16th and 17th amendments to the constitution, and the creation of the Federal Reserve. The 30 years is just how long I had gotten alarmed.
G-d Damn.!!! This girl is so perfectly well spoken and 100% correct in everything she said. At 65 I never understood why lobbying politicians is even legal. It is no coincidence that a great majority of Americans are being priced out of just LIVING.
There's always an alternative. Do not give up. Owner-operated small businesses are still out there. Find them, support them. The people united can never be defeated.
The problem is some small businesses that become successful cash out sell their company to investors. Nobody is interested in a multi generational business anymore.
BlackRock owns a significant portion of many industries that impact our daily lives, from rehabilitation hospitals to fast food chains like Jack in the Box, and even fitness centers like Planet Fitness. It's alarming that so many people are unaware of the power and influence corporations like BlackRock hold while being more focused on pop culture and celebrities. This lack of awareness about who controls key aspects of our world is a troubling reality.
I am not religious by any means. However, what sticks out to me in all of the world's economic issues is...there is a reason Greed is a sin. The concept of wealth has grown beyond a healthy point.
I think we humans have known of our mental issues and the worlds limitations for thousands of years. In reality the bible is actually pretty young. For example Jesus was alive hundreds of years AFTER many philosophers were onto the atom..... Time is weird and most people tend to think of the bible as ancient and the old testament is still young lol, but in reality the new testament is insanely young. We humans have been thinking about this shit for a LONG time. I think we have always known that we humans have a lot of biases and a lot of mental shortcomings that are just inherent to us still being relatively primitive and animalistic. We are still hyper competitive, we are still greedy, we still want to hurt others for our own survival, we still have a lot of sexual programming that just reinforces our competition. This is all fine and games when you are a squirrel, but when you are an intelligent ape that can create nuclear weapons these mental biases start to become a real problem. It was still a problem even for the Ancient Greeks though lol. Aristotle was around hundreds of years before Jesus and in his time Alexander went around trying to conquer as much as he could.
@@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384 I have always wondered what gets into their heads. Someone could be worth 100 million but if they could destroy 1,000 families to make it to 101 million they all do it.
@@AccordingtoNicoleit's not all gloom and doom m8. Sure be aware of what's going on but keep your head up. It's not as bad as it seems, the sun is still shining and disease will wipe out a lot of people again soon.
@@MoreLifePlease aw, it feels to me that this is not actually true. I hope things look up for you. Like I said to her, keep your head up. It's easy to dwell in the muck and the things that are bad. Believe me I do it enough but things are going to be alright still.
I know they didn't teach you this in school - but the real world does NOT operate like a Monopoly game. There is no FIXED amount of wealth that one person can CAPTURE to win the game. If you understood how the economy actually worked, you would understand how silly this Monopoly comparison is.
As she said in the video it’s not monopoly but it’s close. It’s called oligopoly, where instead of one owner there are a handful of owners. It can still have elements of monopoly and does.
You had a good analogy and you can always tell if it is good by an ass telling you if you were only brain washed like them you would understand there is no end to the way they can steal your money. There is an end we all know what it is and we all know God tells us how to prepare.
@@johnnynick6179 Monopoly was not created to teach the principles of and extoll the virtues of the free market. It was created to demonstrate that capitalism concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The fact the game has a finite stack of cash is an unimportant factor in teaching this lesson; in my experience, it rarely if ever runs out, so it doesn't create a false, restricted financial universe. Experiments have shown that most people who win when they are given advantages, such as starting with more money, getting $400 when they pass Go, recieving a reusable Get Out of Jail card, bypassing Luxury Taxes, and getting higher rents, always become more aggressive and ultimately feel they "earned" their victory due entirely to skill. Meanwhile, some who play by the normal rules of the game can even be found to extend loans to players who cannot presently afford rent. Otherwise, they simply respond to their die rolls, play the cards, and choose properties to buy. They may make good or bad decisions, but they are still beholden to the elements of chance and the influence of players who have advantages. This is true in life, too. The victors typically fail to recognize the advantages most of them had at birth (even if they were "only" born into the middle class, which is a huge advantage over being poor), such as more resourceful social networks (including parents, siblings, neighbors, teachers, instructors, coaches, career sponsors and mentors, employees, creditors, service providers, and many others) and consequently and more numerous and better social opportunities, the assumption that they "made their luck" simply by working hard, that random events, situations and conditions, did not have any influence, that the help and efforts of others did not contribute, and so forth. They always insist on taking the credit for all their successes and minimize or refuse to acknowledge their failures or the auspicious circumstances they did not "create", and so forth. They insist that the losers who land on Baltic Avenue or Go To Jail, etc., are simply lazy, because this reinforces the idea that success is purely a matter of effort. They take credit for everything, even those things they simply took because they could (such as stiffing a creditor who cannot afford to sue them for recompense). The whole attitude and the methods used are self-serving. Take pride in your work and achievemnets, sure. But never think you're all that. Plenty of other things were involved. Monopoly also teaches that. Monopoly also presents a universe where "maximizing shareholder value" (in this case, the player himself) is the pre-eminent virtue. It's Gordon Gecko land, and the way it plays out shows the results of those who take the most self-serving behavior given the die rolls and cards they get. I'm not saying you can't have fun playing the game. Just be cognizant of what is happening. If you win, don't over-emphasize your skill (decisions) at the expense of recognizing and acknowledging your good fortune (die rolls and cards).
Literally everything is worse than it was from my childhood. It’s will continue to spiral downhill faster and faster. Competition drives quality up and keeps prices low.
You know what else Private Equity buys? UA-cam channels. Many of the larger channels like Donut are owned by private equity. Donut even recently had a fallout where many of the original and early creators left the channel because the directions the private equity "bros" wanted them to take. I love your unbiased and painfully honest content, Nicole!
Private equity invaded my small town. Bought up some family owned businesses; plumbers, HVAC specialists, my dermatologist, for example. They call it "roll-ups", where small businesses are all rolled up into a larger corporate whole. Owners get cash up front, but actually become employees rather than owners. My plumber regrets doing it, but can't afford to get out of the contracts he signed.
Happened to the urgent care near here. The owners made good money to be sure but now they don't like the way it's being operated but they can't do anything because they're no longer the owners lol.
Happened to my little HVAC guy and his son. Called them, they rolled up in a marked van, with a large local HVAC name on it. I wanted the small mom and pop...nope! They got bought out, AND their rates were crazy high. Sorry, I will look for another.
Same happened with my dentist who retired and sold his practice to a PE firm. He made bank but didn't like the wool he felt they pulled over his eyes but could buy the practice back because he'd already signed all the paperwork. He was a good person and now has to live with the decision he made. It wasn't just about the money to him. It was the fact the PE firm lied to him and said all would be bigger and brighter after the purchase. His former practice has turned into a "dental mill" that does shoddy work and overcharges. Different doctor every six months. All his original patients have found other dentists, including me.
A massive problem with private Equity firms is the fact that we do not enforce our antitrust laws. If our antitrust laws had actually been enforced, most of this would not have happened. I'm realistic enough to realize that corporations are going to corporation, so they'd figure out a way to do some of this shit. But a lot of the crap they're getting away with, they wouldn't be able to. As far as I'm concerned, if a company is too big to fail then it's too big to exist in the first place.
I worked at a company that was sold to a private equity firm. It was not a good time. They wanted to flip the business for a profit so they were doing all they could to minimize expenses. Raises/promotions became small and rare, investment in infrastructure dried up. I was about ready to leave but then the place was sold and the new owners put a lot more money into the company. But eventually I left anyway. The new owner was much better but they were a corporation and all the flexibility and freedom we had was whittled away.
Yep those big companies buy good products and ruin them . Recently I found out that Tom's of Maine and Burt's Bees were bought by Colgate/Clorox respectively. So I have to check the ingredients ,every time I buy toothpaste, to see if they have "improved" the formula.
This is called enshitification, and it has been going on for years. The stroke of genius is that they've convinced many people that this is a good thing.
@@briannyob7799 Yeah, gotta give them credit for that, right? Even some of the people negatively impacted by this feature of "free market capitalism" consider it a manifestation of a practice that "made America great" and efforts to rein it in "socialism". Evil genius. Or, too many ignorant and/or stupid citizens. A match made in hell.
No, enshitification is a different, but similar process. It has specific meanings, and being bought out by private equity has nothing to do with enshitification. Enshitification is where a middle man inserts themselves into a transaction that didn't previously have a middle man. They sell to customers below cost to wipe out competition, and build the market. Then because they hold the entire customer market, they can dictate the terms to the other side of the transaction that provides the service. Now they have a monopoly on both sides, and can screw over both the companies and the customers to try to actually make a profit - aka the enshitifcation phase. The private equity firm doesn't bother with that multi-step approach - they just buy out the entire market to begin with, and now they're a monopoly. So similar, but different
Here's a suggestion... Quit focusing on "them." Quit pointing the finger at "them." Organize with the people around _you._ You'd be surprised how powerful this simple change in perspective is. If you remain in a victim mindset and never find self-empowerment, then nothing changes.
@@MoreLifePleaseYou want to know another feature of free-market capitalism? Unionization. Don't be mad at "them" for organizing more effectively than you... Just get better at organizing.
This is definitely not a left or right issue, this is a greed issue and everyone is involved. So let's not think of feel otherwise, just know it is wrong and come together to come against it. Get morals under our belts....
Nope, I am pretty sure left or left leaning policies tend to at least TRY (mostly unsuccessfully) to reign in greedy corporations as a principle, and that is a god thing. The problem is they are immediately demonized at SOCIALISTS by the right, thus we never make any progress. Be clear, the left is FAR from perfect, but at least to me they represent the clear lesser of two EVILS. Agree on coming together to fight, but in order to do this we MUST admit the reality in front of our eyes.
Agree with this. It's not a left or right issue. Both left, right and moderates should all come together to care enough and come against them. It is a greed issue and the 1% continues to take and take. We are fighting the wrong battle by being against each other.
Agree with this…here in north Texas (DFW) we continue to see areas build up with the same crap; Fast food, restaurants, big box stores. We drive out of our way to eat/shop local. These big corporations are careless with development and staffing. Don’t get me started on corporate layoffs…😜
Vet clinics are charging exorbitant rates thanks to private equity owners. Makes me so angry. That's one reason why so many pets are being dumped. People can't afford vet care that used to be more affordable.
Exactly. It's horrific what animals and owners are going through now because of this. Animals are suffering badly or going with no care at all and owners are being ruined financially. I know this from personal experience. I could go on. Lots of animals falling through the cracks now because people can't afford vet care. Many are left on the streets to starve and freeze in misery instead of in homes or shelters now.
One of my cats got bitten by a snake and the vet wanted to charge me $2,000AUD for his medication and hospital care that wasn't guaranteed to work, so I cried my eyes out and said: "Well I guess I'll be seeing him die". He felt sorry for me and gave me a generic one for $11 for me to give him round the clock for 4 days and he is now healthy and happy 2 years later. I am super grateful for the vets' big heart. I doubt this will ever happen again in my lifetime.
@@bumblebee_ms There are still good people in the world. The trick is to find a way to give them power. Many years ago my cat got taken out by cancer. I can't remember what the vet bill was. The vet bill was not enough to be remembered.
@@bumblebee_ms wow. I've been there on both sides as well. $2,000 overnight for a dog that was clearly in the act of dying, $100 just to convince the calling service after hours that I needed the appt. It would have been up to $7000 no guarantees and not a large likelyhood in my mind for a few days care but she passed after a night and a day of absolute misery instead of being put down immediately. The vet prescribed antibiotics that required food, she was drinking and throwing up water constantly. I told her she wouldn't keep it down, she insisted she'd be fine. When the dog passed the next day she wouldnt let me return them. Over $100. I could go on, there's a lot more to the story and more stories. I have a small animal sanctuary. The vet situation gives me acute anxiety and has ruined the joy in it. I'm scared every day of what can go wrong next and how much suffering I'm going to have to watch because I will never put an animal through that again. And won't just take them for small things because its always a money grab. Dew claw tear. 5 min vets time. $300. And she wanted to charge me for a blood test to make sure the dog could take the antibiotics. I looked at her and said no. She didn't like it. It's reached the ridiculous but worse, animals and people are suffering greatly because of it.
The Vet asked me how much I was willing to spend. Our cat has a urinary tract infection. They were ordering tests and asking for 900. I'm like, I love her, but I'm not doing any of that, it's a cat. We got her at the pound. I was looking for off the shelf fish antibiotics to fix her up. It cost me 200 still. Way too much for antibiotics. I was pretty sure we knew what it was. So did the vet, but they still tried to upsell the hell out of it. They didn't know what to think when I said, look I've got 75 bucks in this cat... they stopped wasting time and gave me the antibiotics.
Excellent video. Toys R Us is a poster child for this. They were successful by every major business measure. PE bought them, loaded it with debt, much of it distributed to PE. Then They didn’t have the cash or available credit to evolve with the market. As they went broke the PEs squeezed the last drops of green blood from its corpse. Thousands of people lost jobs and the marketplace lost a once innovate competitor.
Part of that leveraged buyout (transferring the acquisition debt from PE firm to purchased company) is distributing capital dividends up front. This provides an instant distribution of that new cash from the loan back into PE showing a near immediate ROI. Then it's about reducing operating costs until they can sell it in 3-5 years. They don't necessarily care if it goes bankrupt or not because they already got their ROI and profit. Plus, there are ways for them to repurchase the bankrupted company that removes a significant amount of liability.
@@virginiaschott4482 yup. They did sale-leasebacks of their stores to raise cash and used those funds to pay out dividends to the acquiring PE firm for near instant ROI.
When you see institutional investment firms as majority share holders, it's not really the company that's holding the funds directly. They're just an investment house that creates funds made up of publicly traded companies, and then individual investors buy shares of that fund - which means Vanguard/Blackrock/etc have to go buy more publicly traded stock. They are not activist investors, they're simply creating investment vehicles for individual investors. Honestly, just Google Vanguard's ownership structure - it will probably be illuminating for you
@@marjamesquire8141Fidelity holds a significant number of qualified plans, so that's not surprising... It's not like you can run/create a 401k to stick in your mattress... Where do you think people should keep their money? 🤦
I remember from history when Standard Oil was broken up and the monopoly was ended. The same thing needs to happen today when companies have to much economic control. The problem is not having enough lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who serve the people and not big corporations. My dad raised and sold feeder pigs for a living but that is long gone. The private farmers cannot compete with the big cooperatives.
Once a felony, the 2010 ruling on "Citizens United" legalized Corporate donations to politicians. Now, U.S. politicians have become corporate employees.
That's NOT because of Citizens United - it's because we gave government the power to rule over our economy and now the government bureaucrats have the ability to SELL that power to the highest bidder. Eliminate the government's power and you eliminate the power corporations have over us.
Step one is reversing this ruling, or not voting for ANY politician that accepts corporate money…oh wait, there’s like none, I can think of only one, but that’s a major problem
I worked in the veterinary medicine field for 20 years. I left my first hospital when they were bought by VCA. Then the second hospital I worked at... was bought by VCA. Then the third hospital... I quit and started my own pet sitting/dog walking business because f*ck them!
I could be mistaken, but I thought VCA got bought out by someone else a couple of years ago. Oh, I just googled it and yes, they are owned by the Mars (candy) corporation now.
@@attitune Yes, and they also own the health insurance company they give benefits through, the biggest pet food company (Royal Canin) that we had to stock in our hospitals, and so much more!
So share it *DAMMMITT!!!* People NEED to see this - I've explained this to everyone I know, but sometimes people need to hear these things from a stranger.
I've seen many videos on the subject but not one was able to explain this as clear, simple and eloquently as you just did. What a great discovery this channel.
Nice job Nicole in shining a spotlight on one reason consumers are getting shafted by these PE firms. Same thing is happening here in the US. Very little to no mainstream media discussion about this. Keep up the good work and the good fight!
After one takes a look at the "elected" officials in the U.S., are they any better? Did the Clintoons & Obamas amass their fortunes through their hard work or are they bought and paid for?
I really get it about "apartments" as one of the businesses she described. At the neighborhood at where I live, most people rent, but there are big houses on the streets that are owned. And now, the small apartment buildings have been torn down; and high-rises are being built in its place. The local politicians (such as the Mayor, City Council, and others) handed out permits to these developments and allowing these buildings without proper parking for the tenants. It's not just the investors getting rich, it's also the politicians who are taking kickbacks for these projects. It's like the big and powerful are stepping (or squishing) on the little people (like renters) to get ahead. It's getting worse.
example fraudulant property valuations from assessors appraisers in congruence with municiple tax increases. Banks believe wink everyone is in on it, do the loan. Probably think “what are they going to put everyone in jail?” i say we try
That wouldn't work. Lazy people wouldn't work at all or very little, and smart people would have no incentive to do their best. If you have fair competition, the smartest, most disciplined will have more. You just can't let them control the markets or control the government. 1950's America was a lot more fair, but when cheap foreign imports came in, and tons of cheap foreign labor, it made inequality worse.
Private equity ruined the mattress business. Years ago, mattresses were well constructed and were flippable. They lasted a long time. It was private equity that caused the "no flip mattress" to be born. Now they last half as long.
This happened to my private dentist! After the pandemic he sold his practice to Dental 360 and it sucks now! I had to find another dentist! Great video!
@@turquoise_sky- especially if they can leverage their kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. IMO, some public services, like medicine, should NOT be "for profit". Ambulance chasing should be a serious crime instead of an industry.
If you think that's scary, go look up 'natural asset company". the psychos on top almost got a bill last year to allow them to exist. They failed, but they will try again and again until they get them.
Thank you for talking about this. It is so frustrating to not have anyone talking about this because it is a huge factor in what is going on in our economy and in the housing market.
Thank you so VERY much for bringing this to a larger audience. The US Stock Market has 80% control of the three corporations you mentioned (BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard). I have been shouting this to the wind in my world and landing on deaf ears.
That's where she is wrong in the video. Those three aren't private equity, they are publicly traded. Not any better but there's a difference. Actually publicly traded could be worse because regular citizens are investing in the demise of their own services. But of course 50% of the stocks are owned by the top 1%. And 80% of that is owned by the top .1%
Worked for a nutritional supplement company that was owned by a private equity firm based out of Canada. They bought company for 45 million. Six years later, private equity company sold supplement company for 2 billion. What's even crazier, many of my coworkers treasured the private equity owned nutritional supplement company like they personally owned stock in it.
I want to thank you, Nicole (my sister's name too), for the warning and message of being aware of this private equity. I am a social worker and I or we cannot find housing for our clients. when we do they are owned by PE. My childhood neighborhood in Detroit, Mi is now completely owned by, you guessed it! PE. Just 20 years ago our home "rent" was 550, now $2300 and it was chopped up into 2 rentals in the same 800 square feet. yikes. Keep making these videos I will share and pass the message on to others in my community. ty
YEP!! - Charlie Mullins OBE - Started a plumbing Company 40 odd years ago called 'Pimlico Plumbers' - Built it up into a Multi-million pound 'Family' business - Got offered £140 Million'ish for it by an American Conglomerate! ... He Sold UP! ... They did exactly as you SAID - Took away the Personal Service and Sparkle! that made it such a success, and all the regular staff LEFT! ... Guess What!! .... All the Regular customers left TOO! ... The business is sinking faster than the Titanic! .....
Monopoly is not just a board game. It's a way of life for these guys. There is no free parking for us, we're just hoping to make it past go to collect our 200 dollars.
Finally someone who exposes private equity firms. Now, they are getting into Hospice. As a result, the work provided by their personnel has become worse and worse, because profits come before patients treatment.
I'm noticing more palatial veterinarian hospitals being built in our local over the last 10 years or so. No more converted houses or small vet offices. Fees are as expensive as human doctors. So, I think in this day and age, pet owners have little choice but to buy pet insurance now. Sad. I had dogs for about 20 years, they passed on and now I feel very reluctant to get another pet ever. It's a luxury now days.
My last little dog just passed away she was almost 14 yrs old. Our private vet sold his business to a corporate entity and we no longer like them. Seems they're all like that now. It's friggin sad.
@@lisaorth3255 I agree. The only way to adopt a pet now is to protect yourself by buying pet insurance, but the private equity firms own the insurance, too.
Everything you said is true. Thank you for spreading the truth. Consumers can fight this by doing business with individually owned small businesses and healthcare professionals. It’s unfortunate that the government is turning a blind eye.
Best video yet! "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention". Exactly! For your own sanity don't look at how history and education are just as owned as everything else, we live in a great big lie but being aware of that is a blessing and a curse I've found, I've lost a lot of friends over it but gained plenty of others too
Once again all of the comments made in this presentation are so spot on and not exaggerated at all. Very well done. Thank you so much for this. The rest need to know
Ditto regarding my vet and dentist........so sad. My dentist was very upfront about it, but my vet tried to hide it. I walked into my vet office one day and all the office decorations were gone plus the two original vets that started the business decades ago. When I asked where all the decorations went the answer was, "we are getting ready to paint". Six months later still no new paint and no decorations. I found out very much by accident from another vet in town that that vet hospital sold out to a large corporation. What is this world coming to????? Almost forgot, my allergy doctor also recently sold out to a large corporation. Previously if I had a question regarding a bill from my allergy doctor I could speak to a PERSON in the office. Now I call the billing department and speak to someone in a call center in India.
I haven't watched to the end yet, I am certainly going to. As a veteran of the auto industry this is also happening so much in the parts world. Thank you Nicole
@@TwisterTornado I pick my apples at a local orchard, so I avoid the "Apeel". They are not organic, but I do what I can with what is available to me. I strongly recommend that everyone try to find local farms from which to get their food. If I can do this in one of the most in one of the most heavily populated and industrialized states in the nation, many others can do it. It just takes some research and resourcefulness.
I agree. Everything from fast food to nursing to video games. This ruins everything every time. When a private equity firm buys up a property there is 100% chance whatever it is will begin to suck.
Sounds like my experience in Starbucks. I hadn’t been in years but it was the only food place in a business building, only to leave with a “small” (tall) costing $8!!! Took a few sips and threw it out! Now I remember why I left Starbucks.
Here is a partial solution: i do my best to buy from m & pop joints, i boycott Amazon, Starbucks, and Walmart 99.99% of the time. When the price increases in McDonalds & Pepei made me angry....i found something else to replace it. While it doesnt seem like this is enough; my health improved. I felt good about the choices I'm making. AND....to my surprise, years later, Starbucks, Pepsi, and McDonalds report having business problems & are changing. Its too late for me; im never going back. But, even if they had never changed.... I did for the better.
The problem with that is to do business in america, you need friends in higher places. What does Walmart, Amazon have in common? Congress. Walmart and Amazon lobbies congress for laws that put mom and pop shops out of business. Higher tax burden. This is another point in Nicole's video. She expose a key aspect in private equity firms. Friends in the right places, congress.
Thank you for this. I'm sharing this video. Too many idiots in my social media feeds not understanding how economics or corporate greed actually work. Hopefully they will watch and listen. Politicians blame each other for the state of economic turmoil and while they are responsible to a point thanks to the lobbyists, it is corporate greed that has the heavier hand.
You’re absolutely right about this! My daughter works for a dentist who recently went corporate. They are now not allowed to complete a job if it takes longer than one hour on someone’s teeth even if that patient has severe issues that will make them sick. they need to rebook them again, how many people do you know have insurance that will pay for more than one visit or two a year? They have been given quotes on how many people they have to cycle in and cycle out in order to make their bonuses well they did not make their bonuses so now they don’t get one. They have new people coming in that are making more money than the originals are, which of course causes people to be pretty upset because the originals have years and years of experience as well as the mindset to take really good care of patients. It’s all about the mighty dollar now and that is very sad.
Just one question? Are the people working there including the dentist forced to work there for years by contract? Could they not just leave and open their own business?
@@Kernoethat's the whole point of Nicole's video. Private equity firms have access to cash you and I don't have. So our borrowing costs are higher. Most dentists cannot afford to open up shop anymore without getting into 400-500k into debt, on top of the student loans they have already. Some banks won't even loans dentists cash with 500k in student loan debt. Dentists are set up to fail I this country.😂
@@Kernoe It's pretty standard for a non-compete clause to be included when buying/selling a business so the dentist who owned the practice cannot just open another office. The regular workers can just find a new job...easier said than done.
Great video Nicole! Just a slight clarification at 12:10 although Vanguard, Blackrock, StateStreet may technically be the largest shareholders of these public companies, they are managing money for investors so they don't technically own that % (the shareholders do). When we buy a passive S&P 500 index like Vanguard's VOO that includes companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola, but that's still our money not Vanguards.
Yes, there is some confusion regarding the difference between fiduciary companies and P.E. companies. I've seen other videos and articles that make the same mistake.
@@AccordingtoNicole A lot of businesses aren't doing well and need new capital and / or management to compete in a changing market. All economies can only support just so many competitors; the marketplace determines how many.
Thank you for this, Nicole. The lack of outrage is most likely the lack of awareness and/or indifference. What pisses me off in Canada (more observable in the US) is the way politicians are remunerated for not calling out the plainly visible role of “private equity”. Yes, at 78, I am saddened by all I’ve observed in the last 30 years. Every time my 407 bill is posted I am reminded of the Mike Harris’ Conservative “common sense revolution” and selling the highway to his wealthy mates for what it cost to build. Now we have a populist federal opposition leader who awaits a presumed Prime Ministership whose career only includes being paid as a politician. It isn’t uncommon for me to apologize to young cashiers in local businesses for the mess my baby-boomer generation has left of almost everything.
The one good thing about private equity is that it carries the seeds of its own demise. As you said, they don't care about putting out a good product and so many times they can be outdone by that one business that won't sell out. It's similar to price fixing. It only works if everyone does it. That's why vanguard and the rest scoop up so many businesses. Actual competition is deadly to equity firms because their focus is not on making good products but on how much money they can weasel out of every transaction. The best way to fight them is to start your own business build it up by paying attention to your customers and then refuse to sell when these firms come knocking.
Thats where the power of effective monopolization&volume of capital comes in. A private equity firm can order the subsidiary that competes with your business to simply cut prices below your point of breaking even. Marketing campaigns can be deployed to slander your buisness,intellectual property lawsuits can be used to drag you into expensive litigation, or if you get too successful the firm can just buy up your suppliers and enshittify them. Need to replace a part or machine? Sorry we only sell spare parts to our partner brands (this happened when starbucks bought out its coffee machine manufacturer and started refusing to sell indie shops spare parts/replacement machines). They may even bring in slave labor from the prison industrial complex to lower their labor costs to pennies while you still have to pay at least minimum wage. Private equity has a billion and one ways to destroy your business once it reaches a size that threatens their bottom line.Welcome to the endgame of capitalism,human extinction through quarterly profit maximization.
In the U.K. an American investment company bought a well known super market chain. They reduced staffing levels, sold the sites to a company they set up, so they (the supermarket) have to pay rent on sites they previously owned! Then they sold off or leased the car parks to another company. They are gutting it of cash, until it’s no longer a cash cow, then its shrivelled carcass will be sold off! Another American investment company bought a regional power distribution network supplying to mainly rural areas. Maintenance was reduced, that resulted in downed power cables and no electricity for many homes for up to 4 weeks!
I was 'upsold' at a routine eye appointment at an office I thought would have been trusted. The doctor slowly built up a 'case' over a 1-2 year period saying that I had mites in my eyelashes and prescribed $2000 eye drops that would have cost me $400 out of pocket...and I had enough at that point. Turns out everyone has eyelash mites and it's not really a big problem. The real scammy thing is they didn't even schedule the follow up, which involved just a visual inspection rather than testing- and they used their automatic text system to say I had an appointment the week after my routine eye appointment. They somehow knew I had good insurance and had time to leave work to go over to their office. I basically canceled all future interaction with that office. That office suspiciously had the appearance of a fresh renovation and had tons of people in the waiting room during the work day and had a very regimented process for having the tech then doctor see you- seems like a private equity owned office.
The vet clinic we'd taken our animals to for decades was sold to one of these firms, and the care went downhill as did their customer service. Where once I was a valued client, I soon felt like just a number along with everyone else. I was told by my former vet, the one who sold to these devils, that there were now only a couple of private vet clinics in the whole city now, the rest had all been bought by firms that buy them up and lower the standards of care and customer service. So I went to one of the only privately owned ones left. Who knows how long until they are sold as well.
Its even worse if you consider the tax advantages that Private Equity companies compared to non-Private Equity companies on top of the mind boggling fee structures. Recommended reading: The Buyout of America by Josh Kosman.
One thing to consider is that Blackrock, Vanguard, Fidelity and even The Oracle of Omaha aren't running their own money - they're running my money. Your money. Pension funds. 401k's, individual accounts. I love that Fidelity has it's fingers in every pie, that's why I'm going to be able to retire. Matt Levine at Bloomberg has written some great columns about collective ownership and at the macro level, it doesn't seem to hurt consumers or investors. At the micro level, it's more complicated. PE got into startups, so now Uber has to find a business model or die (preferably die) that is more exploitative to juice returns. Shorttermism dominates c-suites. PE goes after smaller and smaller firms, competing with venture capital to drive up valuations without a positive impact on wages. Not great, and an argument for worker democracy.
Yep, it's kind of funny when individuals are complaining about these big institutional investors owning large stakes - that's just everyone's money in mutual funds/ETF's in whatever investment vehicles they have... 😄🤦 Private equity infecting privately held companies is an entirely different thing, and it absolutely can be cancerous.
Venture capital is just a part of "private equity". You are right that the reason they have capital is because almost everybody is invested one way or another in public financial firms. The simple fact is that the governments printed a lot of money (trillions) during the pandemic (inflationary) and the only real place to put it to work is in the stock markets to get any kind of decent returns.
You think it's peoples money that is the backers, didn't Nicole say something about getting a HUGE loan to go with the buyout .Many people use the game Monopoly as a reference, what they don't connect is that money now is digital and only takes one person to sit at the right screen and change numbers, I believe that the movies tried to educate you on this fact. If not time to play computer games and learn;
I had a piece of tartar come loose while flossing last week and got stuck in my teeth, was poking my tongue like a sewing needle (painful!). I skipped my cleaning last year. The next available appointment is: July 2025!! Fortunately upon explaining the situation they got me in as an "emergency " on lunch hours the next day just to scrape that off, and it only cost $65. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!! Don't skip your annual cleaning, people!!
@@AccordingtoNicolesolution to stopping private equity firms is to end the federal reserve. But they've sunk their roots too deep into congress that's it's never gonna happen.
Watch out for the corporate hit squads (Big oil legitimately has these .. just look into why it’s taken so long for electric vehicles to exist the concept was around since 1930-1940s) 😮
It’s horrible. My husband is a medical dr in the US. He gets up at 7:15am. His first office patient is around 8am. He spends more on EMR than with patients, unfortunately thanks to being an employee. Around 7:30pm he gets home, eats in front of the computer while he’s sending scrips & doing lab & dose reviews, then he does the virtual phone visits for the people who couldn’t be fit in during the day until about 10pm. Then he finishes his reviews until around midnight, then he has a snack, goes to bed around 1:30am. Six days a week.
Private equity creeping into HVAC service, Plumbing, Electric contracting and just about every service industry that exists. They are also doing this with animal/vetrinarian services. They drive up the prices and drive down the quality.
This is exactly what is happening in the medical community in the States. It's infuriating. I've never seen anything like it. I've switched to a functional medicine doctor who does things more naturally and I have access to 24/7. Additionally, we are fortunate in our area to have an actual doctor-owned practice come to town for things that functional medicine can't address. I'm so happy they are here b/c the service, pricing, care, etc is so much better and how it used to be "back in the day."
Thank you for your excellent video. P.E. groups are everywhere here in Ontario. As a result cost of everything is constantly going up. Not only gas. The quality is taking a nose dive. We are paying more for much less. Look at big box food stores prices and look at the container sizes.
Wow now it makes sense why everything in America sucks now! I notice it all the time but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Businesses were already declining pre-covid, but after covid it’s like customer service, having a full staff, quality products, just disappeared overnight.
One day, I noticed my favorite gelato tasted different. I looked on the back of the container, and there were all sorts of new ingredients, oils and gums and junk. Also, a new owner of the gelato brand, Unilever, who clearly changed the ingredients to make a higher profit. Gelato went into the garbage. This has happened to me over and over with different products. I hate capitalism.
The problem isn't Capitalism. It's Greed. We've embraced Capitalism forever in the US. It's never been this bad. Our Politicians used to actually care about the people they represent.
@@jfree111 "It's never been this bad." I would refer you to the Gilded Age. If we don't do something now we will return to it soon. We've aloud politicians to remove more and more of the regulations that ended the Gilded Age.
Yes, I’ve really felt the impact of this in medicine. Private Equity firms and insurance decide your medical treatment rather than your physician here in US. It is also what is driving up housing prices. So agree that there should be areas where Equity firms should not be allowed. Medicine is definitely one of them. I’m surprised Canadians are experiencing this too in medicine. It infuriates me. It cost my daughter her health permanently. When we tried to sue, we were told by top malpractice lawyers that because she didn’t die, we didn’t have a case. We feel broken. In the US the Supreme Court is basically owned by private equity firms. Citizens United was its demise. 🤬
there are a few actions people can take. Buy food from farmers markets as best as you can. And, in the US, put your money into credit unions, not the big banks. I don't delude myself that my actions are even a blip, but if enough people... and this is another reason to live as frugally as possible. Don't feed the beast.
My husband and I checked zillow almost monthly from 2019 to 2021. It was like over the course of one month, suddenly, somewhere around Covid, all the homes we saw listed disappeared. Now it makes sense why… the way it happened was so strange we knew something was up. It was ALL the single family homes for around 800k. Now the like two homes remaining are going for 1.5 million and up.
We learned this lesson more than once. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, we fought the big trusts. They were monopolies, like Standard Oil. Then in the 30s with the Great Depression it was what FDR called economic royalists. He made the New Deal to break up the economic monopolies and control them and tax them heavy. Since 1980, the dismantling of the New Deal laws started. That was pretty much complete in 1996 when I call that year as the end of our representative form of democracy and the beginning of our donor owned plutocracy. Now, the government is so neutered and so owned by the corporate donors, they can not even stop the Albertson/Kroger merger.
Very proud of you for making this video. It's a rabbit hole that many conspiracy theorists have been worried about for a long time now. That's why I try to support local as much as possible and pay higher prices to local farmers, etc. There is so much corruption that goes on behind the scenes it truly is scary.
"First we overlook evil, Then we permit evil. Then we legalize evil. Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those who still call it evil." Fr. Dwight Longenecker
“In the Last Days, Good will be called Evil and Evil will be called Good.” Are We There YET ?
Yes - unfortunately most people have reached the conclusion that FREEDOM is evil and bondage to government is noble - so yes - we are in the final stages of civilization.
Once it crashes and our heirs begin to rebuild, they will have learned that ONLY free people are worthy. Those of you calling for more and bigger government are our downfall.
I would say that we are there.
Getting closer every day
We have arrived in that territory already. Will be interesting to see when or whether people will wake up to it and change course (:
How true!!!!
Private equity is now buying up all the trailer parks. They are ruining the last way to get affordable housing
It's evil
It is very obvious if you live in one.
All by design
They seem to go through certain industries. loot it, then move on to another. They have hit student housing, nursing homes, trailer parks, etc. They do seminars to teach people how to find those properties and situations for them too. People only think of the making money part and don't notice they are making it worse for everyone and helping those big corporations to cheat people and raise prices.
I just read that today... it's just wrong. No wonder homelessness is on the rise.
I recently had a veterinarian at my house for a party. She said exactly this, every vet office is corporate owned now. It’s obvious their sole purpose is to take every last dollar outta your pocket. Greed has destroyed our lives, we simply cannot win up against this level of greed. Corporations buying family homes should be illegal.
VCA veterinarian "care"+ Mars Candy. Feed to shots...
Dogs can live to 35.
In the US, they tell you 7 years big , 14 years small, for average expected lifespan.
Excessive morbidity and mortality in US pets, humans and OTHER commodity live stock (actually dying UNnaturally before birth.
Protect your genes.
They bought Catastrophic!
They did the same with medical offices over the last 10 yrs as well. AFTER they'd bought up Hospitals nationwide then proceeded to shut down 2/3 of them, which all began in the 90's.
So the independent Vet wasn’t interested in taking dollars out of your pocket; charging what the market will bear?!
@@CharlesVaughn-bm9gq No, they actually cared about their customers and patients.
Private equity has done this to almost every business in the United States and ruined the quality. We truly live in an oligarchy. 🙄🤮
Yeah but you have stocks in those companies, you just don't know it.
When we were house hunting, we were twice "outbid" by private equity firms that were offering cash (they paid less money than we were offering, but it was cash, which the seller wants, understandably). Finally, one of the sellers - a couple who had owned this house for years - caught onto who was "outbidding" us and sold to us anyway, because they wanted this house to go to a family that gave a crap about it. So we got the house... and then about a year after we bought the house, a private equity firm bought the mortgage company we use. They will always win, until Congress bans them or seriously restricts them. To add the ultimate insult to injury, now, three years later, the company I work for has been bought and taken private, and my last day is middle of November. All of our jobs are going overseas. We are training our replacements and working our assess off, to secure the severance they really already owe us. My feeling is that this won't stop until the entire country is nothing but people who work at fast food restaurants and in retail, for pennies.
Also, the fact they use pirate ships in their logos is what we call "on the nose."
they have your mortgage, now they have your job. If you have a 401k you probably gave them your untaxed earnings to help support their cause as well. When I learned this I took all my cash out of the 401k. evil they are EVIL!!!!
The seller gets the full payment immediately whether they take a "cash" offer or take a check from the bank you got a mortgage from... your realtor basically lied to you. You got outbid in terms of money paid in some way. Maybe they paid closing costs or something.
This is what killed Sears.
Fast food restaurants will employ robots to replace you too lol
"It's a big club, and you ain't in it." - George Carlin
And the same club they hit you over the head with!
No wiser words have ever been uttered..
As someone who has been running my software design and consulting company for the past +20 years, I've witnessed firsthand how private equity (PE) has increasingly decimated my teams over the past three years. The notion that these 'smart' PE professionals swoop in like SWAT teams to 'save' companies is a complete myth.
I've seen disastrous decisions where high-value, high-cost employees/contractors are laid off, only to be replaced by low-cost, low-value offshore teams. Ironically, we were initially brought in to resolve the tech debt and poor UX design processes that these offshore teams had already created.
It's often the case that companies looking to sell to PE artificially boost their profitability by bringing in these low-cost teams, leaving the PE firm, if they're not careful, holding the bag. But after reading this article, that doesn’t even matter, it's the employees/contractors that are. The result is a double blow: the first wave of layoffs happens before the PE buyout, and then another round follows post-acquisition so they can siphon any profits to the investors and just continue with layoffs
This trend is creating a widening gap between the white-collar workers who actually perform these tech jobs and those at the top who are cashing out. It's a sad reflection of what's happening to businesses in the U.S. today.
Check out this article on medium - medium.com/alpha-beta-blog/the-private-equity-illusion-29a2527c05e4
Truth.
I think the problem is more that it's a SMALL club and 95% of us ain't in it.
As a 70 year old who has watched with alarm this happening over the last 3 decades, it is good to see more and more younger people catch on. Too many are oblivious to reality, so it is good to see some young people trying to sound the alarm.
I agree, I'm 48 and have seen the exact same thing the past 30 years, really, really scary.
I am going to suggest that the trend is more than 30 years long. I saw it in the 1980s. I think I can do the needed math.
@@bumblebee_ms What's really sad is nobody seems inclined to do anything about it... except bitch and moan.
@@kensmith5694 trickle down theory is a farce.
@@kensmith5694 Of course you can go back much further; how about 1913? Think 16th and 17th amendments to the constitution, and the creation of the Federal Reserve. The 30 years is just how long I had gotten alarmed.
G-d Damn.!!! This girl is so perfectly well spoken and 100% correct in everything she said. At 65 I never understood why lobbying politicians is even legal. It is no coincidence that a great majority of Americans are being priced out of just LIVING.
The time to lower your standards is before you are mortgaged.
That's Socialism for you.
Incorporation - one word
Politicians perennially sell out the public because the public is perennially gullible.
100% Agree
There's always an alternative. Do not give up. Owner-operated small businesses are still out there. Find them, support them.
The people united can never be defeated.
So naive. With the power of the internet behind them, these private equity companies wont stop until they take over everything.
The problem is some small businesses that become successful cash out sell their company to investors. Nobody is interested in a multi generational business anymore.
@@kidcoyoteanarchy
Sounds like the typical Gordon Gecko agenda.
The people are too heavily divided.
BlackRock owns a significant portion of many industries that impact our daily lives, from rehabilitation hospitals to fast food chains like Jack in the Box, and even fitness centers like Planet Fitness. It's alarming that so many people are unaware of the power and influence corporations like BlackRock hold while being more focused on pop culture and celebrities. This lack of awareness about who controls key aspects of our world is a troubling reality.
“Keep ‘em stupid.”
This explains everything and why quality of life has gone down hill so fast all over the world.
Has it really?
Not all over the world. Many countries do a much better job of encouraging local businesses, especially in Asia.
@@c4sh3w in a lot of places, YES!.
Yes, quality of life and product quality get worse for people who are not in the 1%, every year your dollar gets you less and less
@@noseboop4354no they don’t
I am not religious by any means. However, what sticks out to me in all of the world's economic issues is...there is a reason Greed is a sin. The concept of wealth has grown beyond a healthy point.
It raised my alarms some years ago when I first heard about many *illionears buying islands and building bunkers on them.
we should lock max profits to like 100 million. should any single human have more wealth than that?
Religion is a friggin joke. Losers are a sin.
I think we humans have known of our mental issues and the worlds limitations for thousands of years. In reality the bible is actually pretty young. For example Jesus was alive hundreds of years AFTER many philosophers were onto the atom..... Time is weird and most people tend to think of the bible as ancient and the old testament is still young lol, but in reality the new testament is insanely young.
We humans have been thinking about this shit for a LONG time. I think we have always known that we humans have a lot of biases and a lot of mental shortcomings that are just inherent to us still being relatively primitive and animalistic. We are still hyper competitive, we are still greedy, we still want to hurt others for our own survival, we still have a lot of sexual programming that just reinforces our competition. This is all fine and games when you are a squirrel, but when you are an intelligent ape that can create nuclear weapons these mental biases start to become a real problem. It was still a problem even for the Ancient Greeks though lol. Aristotle was around hundreds of years before Jesus and in his time Alexander went around trying to conquer as much as he could.
@@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384 I have always wondered what gets into their heads. Someone could be worth 100 million but if they could destroy 1,000 families to make it to 101 million they all do it.
The best reason ever to support locally sourced, locally owned businesses.
Your locally owned businesses won’t be for long 😞
@@AccordingtoNicoleit's not all gloom and doom m8. Sure be aware of what's going on but keep your head up. It's not as bad as it seems, the sun is still shining and disease will wipe out a lot of people again soon.
@@adamjebediahWhy, I feel better already!
@@MoreLifePlease aw, it feels to me that this is not actually true. I hope things look up for you. Like I said to her, keep your head up. It's easy to dwell in the muck and the things that are bad. Believe me I do it enough but things are going to be alright still.
.. until they themselves get greedy and sell out to one of these groups… none of this happens unless your “local” business sell out
We are at the end of the Monopoly game when the only people having any fun is the one person with everything
I know they didn't teach you this in school - but the real world does NOT operate like a Monopoly game. There is no FIXED amount of wealth that one person can CAPTURE to win the game. If you understood how the economy actually worked, you would understand how silly this Monopoly comparison is.
As she said in the video it’s not monopoly but it’s close. It’s called oligopoly, where instead of one owner there are a handful of owners. It can still have elements of monopoly and does.
@@johnnynick6179 There is a fixed amount of money in circulation, wealth IS a zero-sum game.
You had a good analogy and you can always tell if it is good by an ass telling you if you were only brain washed like them you would understand there is no end to the way they can steal your money. There is an end we all know what it is and we all know God tells us how to prepare.
@@johnnynick6179 Monopoly was not created to teach the principles of and extoll the virtues of the free market. It was created to demonstrate that capitalism concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The fact the game has a finite stack of cash is an unimportant factor in teaching this lesson; in my experience, it rarely if ever runs out, so it doesn't create a false, restricted financial universe.
Experiments have shown that most people who win when they are given advantages, such as starting with more money, getting $400 when they pass Go, recieving a reusable Get Out of Jail card, bypassing Luxury Taxes, and getting higher rents, always become more aggressive and ultimately feel they "earned" their victory due entirely to skill.
Meanwhile, some who play by the normal rules of the game can even be found to extend loans to players who cannot presently afford rent. Otherwise, they simply respond to their die rolls, play the cards, and choose properties to buy. They may make good or bad decisions, but they are still beholden to the elements of chance and the influence of players who have advantages.
This is true in life, too.
The victors typically fail to recognize the advantages most of them had at birth (even if they were "only" born into the middle class, which is a huge advantage over being poor), such as more resourceful social networks (including parents, siblings, neighbors, teachers, instructors, coaches, career sponsors and mentors, employees, creditors, service providers, and many others) and consequently and more numerous and better social opportunities, the assumption that they "made their luck" simply by working hard, that random events, situations and conditions, did not have any influence, that the help and efforts of others did not contribute, and so forth. They always insist on taking the credit for all their successes and minimize or refuse to acknowledge their failures or the auspicious circumstances they did not "create", and so forth. They insist that the losers who land on Baltic Avenue or Go To Jail, etc., are simply lazy, because this reinforces the idea that success is purely a matter of effort. They take credit for everything, even those things they simply took because they could (such as stiffing a creditor who cannot afford to sue them for recompense). The whole attitude and the methods used are self-serving. Take pride in your work and achievemnets, sure. But never think you're all that. Plenty of other things were involved. Monopoly also teaches that.
Monopoly also presents a universe where "maximizing shareholder value" (in this case, the player himself) is the pre-eminent virtue. It's Gordon Gecko land, and the way it plays out shows the results of those who take the most self-serving behavior given the die rolls and cards they get. I'm not saying you can't have fun playing the game. Just be cognizant of what is happening. If you win, don't over-emphasize your skill (decisions) at the expense of recognizing and acknowledging your good fortune (die rolls and cards).
Literally everything is worse than it was from my childhood. It’s will continue to spiral downhill faster and faster. Competition drives quality up and keeps prices low.
💜 im using that quote, " if youre not angry, youre not paying attention."
Or they just don't care and are preoccupied with other things.
@@ElPablo390 Or they believe that populist politicians can fix everything for them. Fun times ahead.
But where does anger get you? What can anyone do about this when everyone is too broke and tired to get together and form some strategic action?
The content of the video is exceptional, but the saying is too cliche and makes people stop listening to you. It’s rather appropriate here though.
You know what else Private Equity buys? UA-cam channels. Many of the larger channels like Donut are owned by private equity. Donut even recently had a fallout where many of the original and early creators left the channel because the directions the private equity "bros" wanted them to take.
I love your unbiased and painfully honest content, Nicole!
This was the EXACT example I was thinking of. The only upside to that is the original creators still go to do their own things just somewhere else
same thing happened with the owner of The escapist magazine.
I wondered why Donut Media seemed to slip, it's nowhere near as good as it used to be.
Private equity invaded my small town. Bought up some family owned businesses; plumbers, HVAC specialists, my dermatologist, for example. They call it "roll-ups", where small businesses are all rolled up into a larger corporate whole. Owners get cash up front, but actually become employees rather than owners. My plumber regrets doing it, but can't afford to get out of the contracts he signed.
Happened to the urgent care near here. The owners made good money to be sure but now they don't like the way it's being operated but they can't do anything because they're no longer the owners lol.
Happened to my little HVAC guy and his son. Called them, they rolled up in a marked van, with a large local HVAC name on it. I wanted the small mom and pop...nope! They got bought out, AND their rates were crazy high. Sorry, I will look for another.
No those are labor unions!!!
Same happened with my dentist who retired and sold his practice to a PE firm. He made bank but didn't like the wool he felt they pulled over his eyes but could buy the practice back because he'd already signed all the paperwork. He was a good person and now has to live with the decision he made. It wasn't just about the money to him. It was the fact the PE firm lied to him and said all would be bigger and brighter after the purchase. His former practice has turned into a "dental mill" that does shoddy work and overcharges. Different doctor every six months. All his original patients have found other dentists, including me.
My veterinarian also sold out. Prices have skyrocketed and I am looking for another vet.
A massive problem with private Equity firms is the fact that we do not enforce our antitrust laws. If our antitrust laws had actually been enforced, most of this would not have happened. I'm realistic enough to realize that corporations are going to corporation, so they'd figure out a way to do some of this shit. But a lot of the crap they're getting away with, they wouldn't be able to. As far as I'm concerned, if a company is too big to fail then it's too big to exist in the first place.
You got it, if it's too big to fail, it's a form of warfare.
The last time I heard the term "antitrust" used in a productive way was in the 80s.
I worked at a company that was sold to a private equity firm. It was not a good time. They wanted to flip the business for a profit so they were doing all they could to minimize expenses. Raises/promotions became small and rare, investment in infrastructure dried up. I was about ready to leave but then the place was sold and the new owners put a lot more money into the company. But eventually I left anyway. The new owner was much better but they were a corporation and all the flexibility and freedom we had was whittled away.
Yep those big companies buy good products and ruin them . Recently I found out that Tom's of Maine and Burt's Bees were bought by Colgate/Clorox respectively. So I have to check the ingredients ,every time I buy toothpaste, to see if they have "improved" the formula.
Dang. I bought Tom’s yesterday ..
All I checked was fluoride free…
Thanks for that info
I sourced Pepsodent (2 cases) because it was being de-emphasized.
It is cheaper to make your own from scratch. Putting some peppermint oil and clove oil in MCT oil beats any toothpaste.
FYI, Tom’s of Maine sold out to Colgate on May 1, 2006 and it hasn’t been the same since.
I've noticed that Tom's now offers a Lot of fluoridated options, which seems to go against the original ethos of the company.
This is called enshitification, and it has been going on for years. The stroke of genius is that they've convinced many people that this is a good thing.
Well said!
@@briannyob7799 Yeah, gotta give them credit for that, right? Even some of the people negatively impacted by this feature of "free market capitalism" consider it a manifestation of a practice that "made America great" and efforts to rein it in "socialism".
Evil genius.
Or, too many ignorant and/or stupid citizens.
A match made in hell.
No, enshitification is a different, but similar process. It has specific meanings, and being bought out by private equity has nothing to do with enshitification. Enshitification is where a middle man inserts themselves into a transaction that didn't previously have a middle man. They sell to customers below cost to wipe out competition, and build the market. Then because they hold the entire customer market, they can dictate the terms to the other side of the transaction that provides the service. Now they have a monopoly on both sides, and can screw over both the companies and the customers to try to actually make a profit - aka the enshitifcation phase. The private equity firm doesn't bother with that multi-step approach - they just buy out the entire market to begin with, and now they're a monopoly. So similar, but different
Here's a suggestion... Quit focusing on "them." Quit pointing the finger at "them." Organize with the people around _you._ You'd be surprised how powerful this simple change in perspective is. If you remain in a victim mindset and never find self-empowerment, then nothing changes.
@@MoreLifePleaseYou want to know another feature of free-market capitalism? Unionization. Don't be mad at "them" for organizing more effectively than you... Just get better at organizing.
It’s basically like the game monopoly. Eventually one person (company) owns everything on the board. The game ends when we decide to stop playing.
Absolutely
Best comment award
You understand socialism.
"Stop playing" , how exactly?
Welcome to capitism 😅
This is definitely not a left or right issue, this is a greed issue and everyone is involved. So let's not think of feel otherwise, just know it is wrong and come together to come against it.
Get morals under our belts....
DEMOCRAT KKK
Nope, I am pretty sure left or left leaning policies tend to at least TRY (mostly unsuccessfully) to reign in greedy corporations as a principle, and that is a god thing. The problem is they are immediately demonized at SOCIALISTS by the right, thus we never make any progress. Be clear, the left is FAR from perfect, but at least to me they represent the clear lesser of two EVILS.
Agree on coming together to fight, but in order to do this we MUST admit the reality in front of our eyes.
this is what capitalism is...
You are correct, and it’s the one thing that neither side seems super worried about fixing
Agree with this. It's not a left or right issue. Both left, right and moderates should all come together to care enough and come against them. It is a greed issue and the 1% continues to take and take. We are fighting the wrong battle by being against each other.
Agree with this…here in north Texas (DFW) we continue to see areas build up with the same crap; Fast food, restaurants, big box stores. We drive out of our way to eat/shop local.
These big corporations are careless with development and staffing.
Don’t get me started on corporate layoffs…😜
Vet clinics are charging exorbitant rates thanks to private equity owners. Makes me so angry. That's one reason why so many pets are being dumped. People can't afford vet care that used to be more affordable.
Exactly. It's horrific what animals and owners are going through now because of this. Animals are suffering badly or going with no care at all and owners are being ruined financially. I know this from personal experience. I could go on. Lots of animals falling through the cracks now because people can't afford vet care. Many are left on the streets to starve and freeze in misery instead of in homes or shelters now.
One of my cats got bitten by a snake and the vet wanted to charge me $2,000AUD for his medication and hospital care that wasn't guaranteed to work, so I cried my eyes out and said: "Well I guess I'll be seeing him die". He felt sorry for me and gave me a generic one for $11 for me to give him round the clock for 4 days and he is now healthy and happy 2 years later. I am super grateful for the vets' big heart. I doubt this will ever happen again in my lifetime.
@@bumblebee_ms There are still good people in the world. The trick is to find a way to give them power.
Many years ago my cat got taken out by cancer. I can't remember what the vet bill was. The vet bill was not enough to be remembered.
@@bumblebee_ms wow. I've been there on both sides as well. $2,000 overnight for a dog that was clearly in the act of dying, $100 just to convince the calling service after hours that I needed the appt. It would have been up to $7000 no guarantees and not a large likelyhood in my mind for a few days care but she passed after a night and a day of absolute misery instead of being put down immediately. The vet prescribed antibiotics that required food, she was drinking and throwing up water constantly. I told her she wouldn't keep it down, she insisted she'd be fine. When the dog passed the next day she wouldnt let me return them. Over $100. I could go on, there's a lot more to the story and more stories. I have a small animal sanctuary. The vet situation gives me acute anxiety and has ruined the joy in it. I'm scared every day of what can go wrong next and how much suffering I'm going to have to watch because I will never put an animal through that again. And won't just take them for small things because its always a money grab. Dew claw tear. 5 min vets time. $300. And she wanted to charge me for a blood test to make sure the dog could take the antibiotics. I looked at her and said no. She didn't like it. It's reached the ridiculous but worse, animals and people are suffering greatly because of it.
The Vet asked me how much I was willing to spend. Our cat has a urinary tract infection. They were ordering tests and asking for 900. I'm like, I love her, but I'm not doing any of that, it's a cat. We got her at the pound. I was looking for off the shelf fish antibiotics to fix her up. It cost me 200 still. Way too much for antibiotics. I was pretty sure we knew what it was. So did the vet, but they still tried to upsell the hell out of it. They didn't know what to think when I said, look I've got 75 bucks in this cat... they stopped wasting time and gave me the antibiotics.
Excellent video. Toys R Us is a poster child for this. They were successful by every major business measure. PE bought them, loaded it with debt, much of it distributed to PE. Then They didn’t have the cash or available credit to evolve with the market. As they went broke the PEs squeezed the last drops of green blood from its corpse. Thousands of people lost jobs and the marketplace lost a once innovate competitor.
A classic short, aka the 'Mitt Special'
Part of that leveraged buyout (transferring the acquisition debt from PE firm to purchased company) is distributing capital dividends up front. This provides an instant distribution of that new cash from the loan back into PE showing a near immediate ROI. Then it's about reducing operating costs until they can sell it in 3-5 years. They don't necessarily care if it goes bankrupt or not because they already got their ROI and profit. Plus, there are ways for them to repurchase the bankrupted company that removes a significant amount of liability.
They Killed Red Lobster too.
@@virginiaschott4482 yup. They did sale-leasebacks of their stores to raise cash and used those funds to pay out dividends to the acquiring PE firm for near instant ROI.
Blackrock, Fidelity and Vanguard have the power. Blackrock advises both candidates and parties. They control pension funds.
I’m a divorce attorney and many QDROs (qualified domestic relations orders) are from Fidelity. SMH.
When you see institutional investment firms as majority share holders, it's not really the company that's holding the funds directly. They're just an investment house that creates funds made up of publicly traded companies, and then individual investors buy shares of that fund - which means Vanguard/Blackrock/etc have to go buy more publicly traded stock.
They are not activist investors, they're simply creating investment vehicles for individual investors.
Honestly, just Google Vanguard's ownership structure - it will probably be illuminating for you
@@marjamesquire8141Fidelity holds a significant number of qualified plans, so that's not surprising... It's not like you can run/create a 401k to stick in your mattress... Where do you think people should keep their money? 🤦
See? _Capitalist dictatorship!_
I remember from history when Standard Oil was broken up and the monopoly was ended. The same thing needs to happen today when companies have to much economic control. The problem is not having enough lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who serve the people and not big corporations. My dad raised and sold feeder pigs for a living but that is long gone. The private farmers cannot compete with the big cooperatives.
If you’re not angry you’re not paying attention are healing words. Great video
Once a felony, the 2010 ruling on "Citizens United" legalized Corporate donations to politicians. Now, U.S. politicians have become corporate employees.
That's NOT because of Citizens United - it's because we gave government the power to rule over our economy and now the government bureaucrats have the ability to SELL that power to the highest bidder. Eliminate the government's power and you eliminate the power corporations have over us.
Everything is incorporated EVERYTHING. Do some historical research then you will realize that ruling was icing on a cake, and busywork for the masses
Step one is reversing this ruling, or not voting for ANY politician that accepts corporate money…oh wait, there’s like none, I can think of only one, but that’s a major problem
I worked in the veterinary medicine field for 20 years. I left my first hospital when they were bought by VCA. Then the second hospital I worked at... was bought by VCA. Then the third hospital... I quit and started my own pet sitting/dog walking business because f*ck them!
I could be mistaken, but I thought VCA got bought out by someone else a couple of years ago. Oh, I just googled it and yes, they are owned by the Mars (candy) corporation now.
@@attitune Yes, and they also own the health insurance company they give benefits through, the biggest pet food company (Royal Canin) that we had to stock in our hospitals, and so much more!
its about to happen to hospitals as well.
What are you going to do when VCA buys your mortgage?
@@attitune Shareholders, we have to protect the rich shareholders and help them get even richer.
For me, this is your best video so far and I hope it goes viral
I totally agree....When Nicole drops F Bombs, you know she is fired up.
It's BS!!!
@rebeccad8568 allllll of her videos have been 🎯
Same here. Good video.
So share it *DAMMMITT!!!*
People NEED to see this - I've explained this to everyone I know, but sometimes people need to hear these things from a stranger.
I've seen many videos on the subject but not one was able to explain this as clear, simple and eloquently as you just did. What a great discovery this channel.
Nice job Nicole in shining a spotlight on one reason consumers are getting shafted by these PE firms. Same thing is happening here in the US. Very little to no mainstream media discussion about this. Keep up the good work and the good fight!
The problem of private equity ruling nations is that these people were unelected.
After one takes a look at the "elected" officials in the U.S., are they any better? Did the Clintoons & Obamas amass their fortunes through their hard work or are they bought and paid for?
Thomas Jefferson warned us about it. When you give banks so much power like the federal reserve, you will have people on the streets.😂😂😂
This is capitalism working as intended, which is the inherent flaw of capitalism. This is why we MUST create a new system
If they are elected it is worse.
You say that like the people who are elected are any better. They aren't.
I really get it about "apartments" as one of the businesses she described. At the neighborhood at where I live, most people rent, but there are big houses on the streets that are owned. And now, the small apartment buildings have been torn down; and high-rises are being built in its place. The local politicians (such as the Mayor, City Council, and others) handed out permits to these developments and allowing these buildings without proper parking for the tenants. It's not just the investors getting rich, it's also the politicians who are taking kickbacks for these projects. It's like the big and powerful are stepping (or squishing) on the little people (like renters) to get ahead. It's getting worse.
example fraudulant property valuations from assessors appraisers in congruence with municiple tax increases.
Banks believe wink everyone is in on it, do the loan. Probably think
“what are they going to put everyone in jail?”
i say we try
You know your city is incorporated, right? Not established any longer. Makes your mayor a CEO doesn't it?
If antitrust legislation targeted private equity, we could see some changes.
Why not simply make it illegal for anybody to have more than anybody else. /sarc
That wouldn't work. Lazy people wouldn't work at all or very little, and smart people would have no incentive to do their best. If you have fair competition, the smartest, most disciplined will have more. You just can't let them control the markets or control the government. 1950's America was a lot more fair, but when cheap foreign imports came in, and tons of cheap foreign labor, it made inequality worse.
@@barbarabrooks4747 My statement was meant to be sarcasm Barbara. You missed it.
@@barbarabrooks4747 Swing and a miss
If anti-trust legislation targeted private equity, private equity would buy it out too.
This was absolutely outstanding. Well researched and presented.
Great video thank you for helping realize how bad this situation is. Big business is the worst criminal of all time.
Private equity ruined the mattress business. Years ago, mattresses were well constructed and were flippable. They lasted a long time. It was private equity that caused the "no flip mattress" to be born. Now they last half as long.
This happened to my private dentist! After the pandemic he sold his practice to Dental 360 and it sucks now! I had to find another dentist! Great video!
In the USA, it's illegal for non lawyers to own a law firm. But they're trying to change that and this is why.
It is illegal to practice medicine without a license, but insurance companies do it every day
That’s a great rule. I’m sure hospitals and clinics would be much better if they were owned by doctors and nurses.
@@turquoise_sky- especially if they can leverage their kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies.
IMO, some public services, like medicine, should NOT be "for profit". Ambulance chasing should be a serious crime instead of an industry.
If you think that's scary, go look up 'natural asset company". the psychos on top almost got a bill last year to allow them to exist. They failed, but they will try again and again until they get them.
Aren't law firms incorporated? Thusly, all you need is a CEO at the helm, they are just catching up to the rest of us
Thank you for talking about this. It is so frustrating to not have anyone talking about this because it is a huge factor in what is going on in our economy and in the housing market.
You are one smart young lady. Koddos to you for trying to spread the truth!
Thank you so VERY much for bringing this to a larger audience. The US Stock Market has 80% control of the three corporations you mentioned (BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard). I have been shouting this to the wind in my world and landing on deaf ears.
That's where she is wrong in the video. Those three aren't private equity, they are publicly traded. Not any better but there's a difference. Actually publicly traded could be worse because regular citizens are investing in the demise of their own services. But of course 50% of the stocks are owned by the top 1%. And 80% of that is owned by the top .1%
You blew my mind with this video. Always suspected this stuff was going on, but the way you laid it out was superb.
And a politician is probably cheaper than a $30 million coffee shop chain, so the people have absolutely no avenue to address this problem.
"The big surprise is not that politicians sell us out, rather that they sell us out so cheaply."
@@JasenJohns 100% agree! "There's alot of money to be made off of other people's misery!"
Worked for a nutritional supplement company that was owned by a private equity firm based out of Canada. They bought company for 45 million. Six years later, private equity company sold supplement company for 2 billion. What's even crazier, many of my coworkers treasured the private equity owned nutritional supplement company like they personally owned stock in it.
I want to thank you, Nicole (my sister's name too), for the warning and message of being aware of this private equity. I am a social worker and I or we cannot find housing for our clients. when we do they are owned by PE. My childhood neighborhood in Detroit, Mi is now completely owned by, you guessed it! PE. Just 20 years ago our home "rent" was 550, now $2300 and it was chopped up into 2 rentals in the same 800 square feet. yikes. Keep making these videos I will share and pass the message on to others in my community. ty
I have a pair of pants older than you and I had no idea that this was going on. Thank you for bringing this to light I will share this.
Bernie and Robert Reich have been talking about this for years.
@@SPR_NAPALM ok. More to look up.!
@@SPR_NAPALM okay. I just looked them up and they're both seem to be leftist extremist communists. Not a fan.
YEP!! - Charlie Mullins OBE - Started a plumbing Company 40 odd years ago called 'Pimlico Plumbers' - Built it up into a Multi-million pound 'Family' business - Got offered £140 Million'ish for it by an American Conglomerate! ... He Sold UP! ... They did exactly as you SAID - Took away the Personal Service and Sparkle! that made it such a success, and all the regular staff LEFT! ... Guess What!! .... All the Regular customers left TOO! ... The business is sinking faster than the Titanic! .....
So in that case, who gets left "holding the bag" so to speak. The original PE investor? If so, then serves them right.
You and society hold the bag with shittier service, people who don't care because they do n't get paid enough.
Good on them, mate! Stand up as a community,deny them your dollars and watch them founder. Money works in every direction.
Lesson to learn here. When you sell something it will have new owner. Always bear that in mind when selling.
Yeah,you were told to sell up or get lawyered out.
Monopoly is not just a board game. It's a way of life for these guys. There is no free parking for us, we're just hoping to make it past go to collect our 200 dollars.
Thank you for not sugar coating these predators
Finally someone who exposes private equity firms. Now, they are getting into Hospice. As a result, the work provided by their personnel has become worse and worse, because profits come before patients treatment.
You realize while you mentioned Zillow, a Zillow ad came up in UA-cam.
Private Veterinarian Hospitals have gone corporate and the fees have gone way up!
Which is why I can't afford to own or adopt a pet again.
I'm noticing more palatial veterinarian hospitals being built in our local over the last 10 years or so. No more converted houses or small vet offices. Fees are as expensive as human doctors. So, I think in this day and age, pet owners have little choice but to buy pet insurance now. Sad. I had dogs for about 20 years, they passed on and now I feel very reluctant to get another pet ever. It's a luxury now days.
@@attitune I know what you mean. Sad too, because the shelters are full everywhere.
My last little dog just passed away she was almost 14 yrs old. Our private vet sold his business to a corporate entity and we no longer like them. Seems they're all like that now. It's friggin sad.
@@lisaorth3255 I agree. The only way to adopt a pet now is to protect yourself by buying pet insurance, but the private equity firms own the insurance, too.
“We ran out of floor boards so we painted the dirt “ 😂One of my favorite Simpsons memes so far.
Everything you said is true. Thank you for spreading the truth. Consumers can fight this by doing business with individually owned small businesses and healthcare professionals. It’s unfortunate that the government is turning a blind eye.
Individually owned small businesses and healthcare professionals are private equity.
Best video yet! "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention". Exactly! For your own sanity don't look at how history and education are just as owned as everything else, we live in a great big lie but being aware of that is a blessing and a curse I've found, I've lost a lot of friends over it but gained plenty of others too
Shared to Facebook. I hope some who see the post will watch this troubling video, which is informative and well researched. Thanks, Nicole.
The cancer of GREED.
It's the cancer of capitalism.
@@mikeloman7122 Running the show...
No need to be antisemitic 👃
@@damonmelendez856 freedom of speech
It's not a cancer, it's basic human nature.
Once again all of the comments made in this presentation are so spot on and not exaggerated at all. Very well done. Thank you so much for this. The rest need to know
Great work! Well done!
Ditto regarding my vet and dentist........so sad. My dentist was very upfront about it, but my vet tried to hide it. I walked into my vet office one day and all the office decorations were gone plus the two original vets that started the business decades ago. When I asked where all the decorations went the answer was, "we are getting ready to paint". Six months later still no new paint and no decorations. I found out very much by accident from another vet in town that that vet hospital sold out to a large corporation. What is this world coming to????? Almost forgot, my allergy doctor also recently sold out to a large corporation. Previously if I had a question regarding a bill from my allergy doctor I could speak to a PERSON in the office. Now I call the billing department and speak to someone in a call center in India.
I haven't watched to the end yet, I am certainly going to. As a veteran of the auto industry this is also happening so much in the parts world. Thank you Nicole
And…the parts world are continually searching to make parts cheaper in locations where the workers make $0.
Exactly what just happened to Braggs Apple Cidar vinegar. The product is now substandard.
You didn't hoard any when you could?
I used to buy Bragg's, but not anymore. I'm experimenting with making my own vinegar this year.
@@TwisterTornado I pick my apples at a local orchard, so I avoid the "Apeel". They are not organic, but I do what I can with what is available to me. I strongly recommend that everyone try to find local farms from which to get their food. If I can do this in one of the most in one of the most heavily populated and industrialized states in the nation, many others can do it. It just takes some research and resourcefulness.
I agree. Everything from fast food to nursing to video games. This ruins everything every time.
When a private equity firm buys up a property there is 100% chance whatever it is will begin to suck.
Sounds like my experience in Starbucks. I hadn’t been in years but it was the only food place in a business building, only to leave with a “small” (tall) costing $8!!!
Took a few sips and threw it out!
Now I remember why I left Starbucks.
Here is a partial solution: i do my best to buy from m & pop joints, i boycott Amazon, Starbucks, and Walmart 99.99% of the time.
When the price increases in McDonalds & Pepei made me angry....i found something else to replace it.
While it doesnt seem like this is enough; my health improved. I felt good about the choices I'm making. AND....to my surprise, years later, Starbucks, Pepsi, and McDonalds report having business problems & are changing.
Its too late for me; im never going back. But, even if they had never changed.... I did for the better.
omg yes, me too!!! I feel that in a way, by doing this, we are taking back our own power!!!
The problem with that is to do business in america, you need friends in higher places. What does Walmart, Amazon have in common? Congress. Walmart and Amazon lobbies congress for laws that put mom and pop shops out of business. Higher tax burden. This is another point in Nicole's video. She expose a key aspect in private equity firms. Friends in the right places, congress.
Mcdonalds have a vegan burger for 4 euros and its tastes like shit, while hesburger has tasty vegan burger for 2.9 eur.
Do you have retirement accounts?
@@Fabmille yes. My company does matching. So I put in the minimum to get the maximum money.
Thank you for this. I'm sharing this video. Too many idiots in my social media feeds not understanding how economics or corporate greed actually work. Hopefully they will watch and listen. Politicians blame each other for the state of economic turmoil and while they are responsible to a point thanks to the lobbyists, it is corporate greed that has the heavier hand.
You’re absolutely right about this! My daughter works for a dentist who recently went corporate. They are now not allowed to complete a job if it takes longer than one hour on someone’s teeth even if that patient has severe issues that will make them sick. they need to rebook them again, how many people do you know have insurance that will pay for more than one visit or two a year? They have been given quotes on how many people they have to cycle in and cycle out in order to make their bonuses well they did not make their bonuses so now they don’t get one. They have new people coming in that are making more money than the originals are, which of course causes people to be pretty upset because the originals have years and years of experience as well as the mindset to take really good care of patients. It’s all about the mighty dollar now and that is very sad.
Just one question? Are the people working there including the dentist forced to work there for years by contract? Could they not just leave and open their own business?
@@Kernoethat's the whole point of Nicole's video. Private equity firms have access to cash you and I don't have. So our borrowing costs are higher. Most dentists cannot afford to open up shop anymore without getting into 400-500k into debt, on top of the student loans they have already. Some banks won't even loans dentists cash with 500k in student loan debt. Dentists are set up to fail I this country.😂
@@Kernoe It's pretty standard for a non-compete clause to be included when buying/selling a business so the dentist who owned the practice cannot just open another office. The regular workers can just find a new job...easier said than done.
Even worse, the financial owners will claim that they don't make any medical decisions, that is left up to the doctors.
This is truly horrifying. How is this even legal? Honestly? What is wrong with people??!!!! 🤬
The underlying problem is monopoly.
Great video. Spot on. From a private veterinary clinic owner.
Great video Nicole! Just a slight clarification at 12:10 although Vanguard, Blackrock, StateStreet may technically be the largest shareholders of these public companies, they are managing money for investors so they don't technically own that % (the shareholders do). When we buy a passive S&P 500 index like Vanguard's VOO that includes companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola, but that's still our money not Vanguards.
Yes, there is some confusion regarding the difference between fiduciary companies and P.E. companies. I've seen other videos and articles that make the same mistake.
You are correct. The biggest issue is them buying up private businesses and tanking them.
@@AccordingtoNicole A lot of businesses aren't doing well and need new capital and / or management to compete in a changing market. All economies can only support just so many competitors; the marketplace determines how many.
Yes also she is wrong in that these are not private equity firms. They're publicly traded, Wall Street.
Yes, you may own a share of these companies but they have the CONTROL.
Thank you for this, Nicole. The lack of outrage is most likely the lack of awareness and/or indifference. What pisses me off in Canada (more observable in the US) is the way politicians are remunerated for not calling out the plainly visible role of “private equity”.
Yes, at 78, I am saddened by all I’ve observed in the last 30 years. Every time my 407 bill is posted I am reminded of the Mike Harris’ Conservative “common sense revolution” and selling the highway to his wealthy mates for what it cost to build. Now we have a populist federal opposition leader who awaits a presumed Prime Ministership whose career only includes being paid as a politician.
It isn’t uncommon for me to apologize to young cashiers in local businesses for the mess my baby-boomer generation has left of almost everything.
The one good thing about private equity is that it carries the seeds of its own demise. As you said, they don't care about putting out a good product and so many times they can be outdone by that one business that won't sell out. It's similar to price fixing. It only works if everyone does it. That's why vanguard and the rest scoop up so many businesses. Actual competition is deadly to equity firms because their focus is not on making good products but on how much money they can weasel out of every transaction.
The best way to fight them is to start your own business build it up by paying attention to your customers and then refuse to sell when these firms come knocking.
Thats where the power of effective monopolization&volume of capital comes in. A private equity firm can order the subsidiary that competes with your business to simply cut prices below your point of breaking even. Marketing campaigns can be deployed to slander your buisness,intellectual property lawsuits can be used to drag you into expensive litigation, or if you get too successful the firm can just buy up your suppliers and enshittify them. Need to replace a part or machine? Sorry we only sell spare parts to our partner brands (this happened when starbucks bought out its coffee machine manufacturer and started refusing to sell indie shops spare parts/replacement machines). They may even bring in slave labor from the prison industrial complex to lower their labor costs to pennies while you still have to pay at least minimum wage.
Private equity has a billion and one ways to destroy your business once it reaches a size that threatens their bottom line.Welcome to the endgame of capitalism,human extinction through quarterly profit maximization.
Spot on observations and commentary. Bravo!
Digging your vibe. Glad you showed up in my feed!
Hands down, the best video that you've put out.
In the U.K. an American investment company bought a well known super market chain. They reduced staffing levels, sold the sites to a company they set up, so they (the supermarket) have to pay rent on sites they previously owned! Then they sold off or leased the car parks to another company. They are gutting it of cash, until it’s no longer a cash cow, then its shrivelled carcass will be sold off!
Another American investment company bought a regional power distribution network supplying to mainly rural areas. Maintenance was reduced, that resulted in downed power cables and no electricity for many homes for up to 4 weeks!
I was 'upsold' at a routine eye appointment at an office I thought would have been trusted. The doctor slowly built up a 'case' over a 1-2 year period saying that I had mites in my eyelashes and prescribed $2000 eye drops that would have cost me $400 out of pocket...and I had enough at that point. Turns out everyone has eyelash mites and it's not really a big problem. The real scammy thing is they didn't even schedule the follow up, which involved just a visual inspection rather than testing- and they used their automatic text system to say I had an appointment the week after my routine eye appointment. They somehow knew I had good insurance and had time to leave work to go over to their office. I basically canceled all future interaction with that office.
That office suspiciously had the appearance of a fresh renovation and had tons of people in the waiting room during the work day and had a very regimented process for having the tech then doctor see you- seems like a private equity owned office.
Same here, but my dermatologist told me to wash my eyelashes with baby shampoo and a tiny makeup brush.
The vet clinic we'd taken our animals to for decades was sold to one of these firms, and the care went downhill as did their customer service. Where once I was a valued client, I soon felt like just a number along with everyone else. I was told by my former vet, the one who sold to these devils, that there were now only a couple of private vet clinics in the whole city now, the rest had all been bought by firms that buy them up and lower the standards of care and customer service. So I went to one of the only privately owned ones left. Who knows how long until they are sold as well.
Its even worse if you consider the tax advantages that Private Equity companies compared to non-Private Equity companies on top of the mind boggling fee structures. Recommended reading: The Buyout of America by Josh Kosman.
One thing to consider is that Blackrock, Vanguard, Fidelity and even The Oracle of Omaha aren't running their own money - they're running my money. Your money. Pension funds. 401k's, individual accounts. I love that Fidelity has it's fingers in every pie, that's why I'm going to be able to retire. Matt Levine at Bloomberg has written some great columns about collective ownership and at the macro level, it doesn't seem to hurt consumers or investors.
At the micro level, it's more complicated. PE got into startups, so now Uber has to find a business model or die (preferably die) that is more exploitative to juice returns. Shorttermism dominates c-suites. PE goes after smaller and smaller firms, competing with venture capital to drive up valuations without a positive impact on wages. Not great, and an argument for worker democracy.
Yep, it's kind of funny when individuals are complaining about these big institutional investors owning large stakes - that's just everyone's money in mutual funds/ETF's in whatever investment vehicles they have... 😄🤦
Private equity infecting privately held companies is an entirely different thing, and it absolutely can be cancerous.
Venture capital is just a part of "private equity". You are right that the reason they have capital is because almost everybody is invested one way or another in public financial firms. The simple fact is that the governments printed a lot of money (trillions) during the pandemic (inflationary) and the only real place to put it to work is in the stock markets to get any kind of decent returns.
You think it's peoples money that is the backers, didn't Nicole say something about getting a HUGE loan to go with the buyout .Many people use the game Monopoly as a reference, what they don't connect is that money now is digital and only takes one person to sit at the right screen and change numbers, I believe that the movies tried to educate you on this fact. If not time to play computer games and learn;
I had a piece of tartar come loose while flossing last week and got stuck in my teeth, was poking my tongue like a sewing needle (painful!). I skipped my cleaning last year. The next available appointment is: July 2025!! Fortunately upon explaining the situation they got me in as an "emergency " on lunch hours the next day just to scrape that off, and it only cost $65. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!! Don't skip your annual cleaning, people!!
Considering the way things are going, I just got my teeth removed to get snap in implants.
Nicole is exposing the system 😂😂😂😂.
I wish I could reply with the Heisenberg meme of “you’re GD right”
@@AccordingtoNicolesolution to stopping private equity firms is to end the federal reserve. But they've sunk their roots too deep into congress that's it's never gonna happen.
Glad she is ! ☀️ We need lots of sunlight on this issue from as many good people as possible
@@AccordingtoNicole😂😂😂
Watch out for the corporate hit squads (Big oil legitimately has these .. just look into why it’s taken so long for electric vehicles to exist the concept was around since 1930-1940s) 😮
Hey Nicole, Enjoy your thought provoking videos. Very informative. Thanks for sharing your intellect. Keep them coming.
It’s horrible. My husband is a medical dr in the US. He gets up at 7:15am. His first office patient is around 8am. He spends more on EMR than with patients, unfortunately thanks to being an employee. Around 7:30pm he gets home, eats in front of the computer while he’s sending scrips & doing lab & dose reviews, then he does the virtual phone visits for the people who couldn’t be fit in during the day until about 10pm. Then he finishes his reviews until around midnight, then he has a snack, goes to bed around 1:30am. Six days a week.
The world needs more Nicoles.... keep up the great work!
Private equity creeping into HVAC service, Plumbing, Electric contracting and just about every service industry that exists. They are also doing this with animal/vetrinarian services. They drive up the prices and drive down the quality.
This is exactly what is happening in the medical community in the States. It's infuriating. I've never seen anything like it. I've switched to a functional medicine doctor who does things more naturally and I have access to 24/7. Additionally, we are fortunate in our area to have an actual doctor-owned practice come to town for things that functional medicine can't address. I'm so happy they are here b/c the service, pricing, care, etc is so much better and how it used to be "back in the day."
Thank you for your excellent video. P.E. groups are everywhere here in Ontario. As a result cost of everything is constantly going up. Not only gas. The quality is taking a nose dive. We are paying more for much less. Look at big box food stores prices and look at the container sizes.
Wow now it makes sense why everything in America sucks now! I notice it all the time but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Businesses were already declining pre-covid, but after covid it’s like customer service, having a full staff, quality products, just disappeared overnight.
One day, I noticed my favorite gelato tasted different. I looked on the back of the container, and there were all sorts of new ingredients, oils and gums and junk. Also, a new owner of the gelato brand, Unilever, who clearly changed the ingredients to make a higher profit. Gelato went into the garbage. This has happened to me over and over with different products. I hate capitalism.
VALDIMIR PUTIN, LOVES YOUR COMMENT 😮
The problem isn't Capitalism. It's Greed. We've embraced Capitalism forever in the US. It's never been this bad. Our Politicians used to actually care about the people they represent.
@@jfree111❤❤❤
@@corinth1121not sure what you meant by this, but Russia is very capitalist
@@jfree111 "It's never been this bad." I would refer you to the Gilded Age. If we don't do something now we will return to it soon. We've aloud politicians to remove more and more of the regulations that ended the Gilded Age.
Yes, I’ve really felt the impact of this in medicine. Private Equity firms and insurance decide your medical treatment rather than your physician here in US. It is also what is driving up housing prices. So agree that there should be areas where Equity firms should not be allowed. Medicine is definitely one of them. I’m surprised Canadians are experiencing this too in medicine. It infuriates me. It cost my daughter her health permanently. When we tried to sue, we were told by top malpractice lawyers that because she didn’t die, we didn’t have a case. We feel broken. In the US the Supreme Court is basically owned by private equity firms. Citizens United was its demise. 🤬
Anti-Trust enforcement is necessary across all sectors. Private Equity is a cancer that was allowed to spread.
Heartbreaking 💔 These firms are criminal enterprises
there are a few actions people can take. Buy food from farmers markets as best as you can. And, in the US, put your money into credit unions, not the big banks. I don't delude myself that my actions are even a blip, but if enough people...
and this is another reason to live as frugally as possible. Don't feed the beast.
My husband and I checked zillow almost monthly from 2019 to 2021. It was like over the course of one month, suddenly, somewhere around Covid, all the homes we saw listed disappeared. Now it makes sense why… the way it happened was so strange we knew something was up. It was ALL the single family homes for around 800k. Now the like two homes remaining are going for 1.5 million and up.
It started when the economy collapsed at the end of the Bush/Cheney administration.
@@71suns Yep so correct.
We learned this lesson more than once. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, we fought the big trusts. They were monopolies, like Standard Oil. Then in the 30s with the Great Depression it was what FDR called economic royalists. He made the New Deal to break up the economic monopolies and control them and tax them heavy. Since 1980, the dismantling of the New Deal laws started. That was pretty much complete in 1996 when I call that year as the end of our representative form of democracy and the beginning of our donor owned plutocracy. Now, the government is so neutered and so owned by the corporate donors, they can not even stop the Albertson/Kroger merger.
Very proud of you for making this video. It's a rabbit hole that many conspiracy theorists have been worried about for a long time now. That's why I try to support local as much as possible and pay higher prices to local farmers, etc. There is so much corruption that goes on behind the scenes it truly is scary.
Local has no power, you need to own controlling interest isn't that what you are being taught.