{"product_id":"the-asset-class-how-private-equity-turned-capitalism-against-itself","title":"The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A brilliant and penetrating analysis exposing the larceny that powers the private equity industry. This rollicking tale uncovers tricks that are ultimately so simple and brazen that the mind is repelled, and in the process shows a great undertow sapping our economies and feeding public rage.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNicholas Shaxson, author of The Finance Curse\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Combining muckraking with moral clarity, Hettie O'Brien tells an utterly original story about how private equity targets people at their most vulnerable, sniffing out weakness to splinter what is left of the postwar social democratic order. Illuminating and infuriating.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuinn Slobodian, author of Hayek's Bastards\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"In this truly brilliant and deeply disturbing analysis, Hettie O'Brien opens our eyes to the destructive forces of leveraged finance and the investors whose fortunes keep rising thanks to their embrace by governments.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKatharina Pistor, author of The Code of Capital\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\"The Asset Class\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting page-turner; it reads like a thriller that is also deeply educational and masterfully accessible. I will be recommending it to anyone-- my students, colleagues, family--who wants to make sense of the murky new owners of their university halls, place of work or utilities provider.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eRosie Collington, author of The Big Con\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hettie O'Brien provides shocking stories, lucid explanation, and an urgent call to action. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand how this Frankenstein form of finance stacked the deck against the rest of us.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNancy MacLean, author of National Book Award Finalist Democracy in Chains\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\" \n\u003ci\u003eThe Asset Class\u003c\/i\u003e shows you who really rules the world. Then it shows them fracking your granny. Read if you want to know who precisely it is to blame for, well, everything.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eOliver Bullough, author of Moneyland and Everyone Loves Our Dollars\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Revolutions are destined to eat their own children. Hettie O'Brien captures this moment beautifully as the capitalist revolutionaries of Private Equity turn their over levered funds into financial weapons of mass destruction aimed at all of us. An absolute scandal and an absolute must read.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark Blyth, author of Austerity: the History of a Dangerous idea\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Intriguing and informative.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e -- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eHettie O'Brien\u003c\/b\u003e is a lead writer and assistant opinion editor at the Guardian, and a regular contributor at the Guardian Long Read. She previously worked as a writer and editor at the New Statesman, and as a reporter covering the Federal Trade Commission in Washington D.C.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Clear-eyed...O'Brien tells all, and it's maddening.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA thrilling, eye opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could potentially undermine our way of life.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the \"creative destruction\" essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work. The name itself, \"private equity,\" is its own kind of camouflage, giving no suggestion of the debt involved in its deals, nor of the controversial techniques it uses to generate profits. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back. In \n\u003ci\u003eThe Asset Class\u003c\/i\u003e, Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follow the money, the trail of destruction, and the industry's murky ideological roots from 1970s trips to Moscow to the present day. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e What she find is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy--it's selling out the foundations of Western society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781538766569, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/06\/2026 (EAN 9781538766569, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/15\/2026 (EAN 9781538766569, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Grand Central Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496142274838,"sku":"9781538766569","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781538766569.jpg?v=1783053883","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-asset-class-how-private-equity-turned-capitalism-against-itself","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}