A Guide to Private Equity
An in-depth exploration of the private-equity industry: how it works, its poor performance, and its increasing risk.
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Confronting Coin-Flip Capitalism
This paper presents the case for policymakers who favor free markets and appreciate the value of a well-functioning financial system to reform the rules governing that system.
No Need to Speculate
Opponents of a financial transaction tax seem less intent on persuading than on covering for the generic impulse that financial markets shall not be impinged upon. That impulse should be resisted.
Coin-Flip Capitalism
Coin-Flip Capitalism aims to help policymakers and the public better understand how the hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital industries function, what social and economic value they create or destroy, and how policy should respond.
We’re Just Speculating Here…
Most of what we call investment, by contrast, entails merely the buying and selling of assets on the secondary market—piles of cash and securities trade hands, but no one builds anything.
Has the Financial Sector Become a Drag on the Real Economy?
American Compass’s Oren Cass, in dialogue with Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks, discusses the negative effects of the growth of the U.S. financial sector.
The Consultant Class Scores an Own Goal
With every step away towards a pure market logic and away from physical communities and lived-in traditions, the sporting world will find that the magic and allure of what has made them so compelling start to disappear.
How Wall Street Took Over Our Economy
Varun Hukeri features American Compass’s We’re Just Speculating Here research on financialization and falling U.S. investment.
Fulfillment: A Conversation on Amazon and Regional Inequality with Alec MacGillis
Fulfillment author Alec MacGillis joins American Compass research director Wells King for a conversation exploring what the growth of Amazon means for the future of inequality in the U.S., the pros and cons of “one-click America,” and how policymakers and consumers should respond.
Oren Cass Joins Tucker Carlson To Discuss Wall Street Investment
American Compass executive director Oren Cass joined Tucker Carlson to discuss our recent research on trends in U.S. investment and the growth of the financial sector.
Oren Cass Reveals Truth Behind Wall Street’s Claim That They Add Value To US Economy
Executive director Oren Cass joins Saagar Enjeti and Krystal Ball to discuss the declining rate of nationwide investments.
Wall Street’s Fixation on Quick Profits Wreaking Havoc in the ‘Real’ Economy, Report Says
Christopher Ingraham features We’re Just Speculating Here writing that U.S. businesses are prioritizing shareholder profits over long-term investments, and the economy’s worse off for it.
New Report: Most U.S. Companies Send Cash to Shareholders at Expense of Capital Base
PRESS RELEASE—In an economic transformation over past 50 years, “Eroders” have overtaken “Sustainers,” according to a new report by American Compass executive director Oren Cass.
The US Needs to Rediscover the Meaning of Investment
American Compass executive director Oren Cass makes the case that fortunes are made in financial markets without benefiting the real economy.
The Corporate Erosion of Capitalism
This report provides a systematic, firm-level study of declining business investment and the shift among American corporation toward disgorging cash to shareholders.
The Rise of Wall Street and the Fall of American Investment
Confusion over the nature of investment is pervasive among economic policymakers and commentators, has bled into the popular culture, and threatens the nation’s future prosperity.
New Analysis Finds Hedge Funds and Private Equity Failed to Beat the COVID Crash
PRESS RELEASE—The latest Returns Counter update highlights the failures of coin-flip capitalism during the COVID-19 market crash in the first two quarters of 2020.
Coin-Flip Capitalism: Q2 2021 Update
A review of hedge fund and private equity performance through the COVID-19 market crash.
The Returns Counter (Q1 2020)
Archive of Returns Counter data as of Q1 2021
The Returns Counter
Comprehensive benchmarking of the hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital industries against public-market indexes, updated quarterly.
