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stitching_ghost's review against another edition
5.0
Very readable and extremely well researched/documented.
The language used in this book is pretty accessible so even if you're not familiar with the language of private equity/finances you should be able to understand what is being talked about without issues.
Through most of the book Ballou painstakingly details how the life of people are being influenced, sometimes to a ruinous or deadly extent by private equity's effort to monetize and profit from an ever-increasing number of aspects of day-to-day life often at the expense of any form of perennity or safety. I was especially impressed with the segment regarding seemingly successful businesses (Payless Shoe Source, Toy R Us…) driven into the ground by the extraction model of profit generation.
Through the different "industries" affected we can see how many activist groups such as tenant rights groups, patients' right groups and even prisoners' rights groups) could stand to benefit in working in tandem with each other to push for better regulations of private equity firms.
This book is both an exposé and a call to action, while a lot of similar work will leave the reader with a sense of inescapable impending doom with this one we are left with a pretty defined suggested path forward which includes all level of actors from the citizen activist to the lawmaker. This part in particular was a breath of fresh air.
People who are familiar with my reviews know that I love me a book with a lot of footnotes and references and this book made me very happy on that front.
I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The language used in this book is pretty accessible so even if you're not familiar with the language of private equity/finances you should be able to understand what is being talked about without issues.
Through most of the book Ballou painstakingly details how the life of people are being influenced, sometimes to a ruinous or deadly extent by private equity's effort to monetize and profit from an ever-increasing number of aspects of day-to-day life often at the expense of any form of perennity or safety. I was especially impressed with the segment regarding seemingly successful businesses (Payless Shoe Source, Toy R Us…) driven into the ground by the extraction model of profit generation.
Through the different "industries" affected we can see how many activist groups such as tenant rights groups, patients' right groups and even prisoners' rights groups) could stand to benefit in working in tandem with each other to push for better regulations of private equity firms.
This book is both an exposé and a call to action, while a lot of similar work will leave the reader with a sense of inescapable impending doom with this one we are left with a pretty defined suggested path forward which includes all level of actors from the citizen activist to the lawmaker. This part in particular was a breath of fresh air.
People who are familiar with my reviews know that I love me a book with a lot of footnotes and references and this book made me very happy on that front.
I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
allie_rose's review
3.0
Interesting but rather too caught up in the details of what private equity is currently doing and how to combat that rather than recognizing the whole system is the problem—to the authors credit, he acknowledges that he’s not interested in “revolution”
canadajanes's review against another edition
4.0
Good layout of the horrors of private equity, in a little too much detail sometimes. Enjoyed the "how to fix the problem". As with most of these books, it was too short, but I think it was better detailed than most.
ithildin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
A must read, though depressing and sometimes even disgusting, to be truly informed.
oisin175's review against another edition
challenging
informative
fast-paced
5.0
An infuriating look at how some of the wealthiest people in America have made life in the US less rewarding and more punishing because of their greed. People suffer and die because of PE execs want to hoard even more wealth and their allies in the political process have helped them for favors. It shows with real clarity how fundamentally broken our system, both political and economic, is.
tedcannon's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.25
A great overview of private equity abuses and government complicity. Somewhat lackluster in the “solutions” chapter.
christopher_pickert's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.75
This is essential reading (for people in the USA at least). The abuses the author outlines are appalling and effect all of us. It helps explain many things I've seen happen (both directly and indirectly through the media) but didn't quite understand, such as the deterioration of the medical services I've used. My only criticism is more a worry: that the alarmist subtitle and skull motif might make this book seem less legit, when in fact it's quite sensibly organized and well-argued (and not hard to read in the slightest). It even sums up ways to take action. I imagine that the publisher might have had something to do with the packaging. Of course, we should be alarmist about this subject.