The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything

The forces behind an economic and political crisis in the making

A "problem of twelve" arises when a small number of institutions acquire the means to exert outsized influence over the politics and economy of a nation.

The Big Four index funds of Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity, and BlackRock control more than twenty percent of the votes of S&P 500 companies--a concentration of power that's unprecedented in America. Then there's the rise of private equity funds such as the Big Four of Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR, which has amassed $2.7 trillion of assets, and are eroding the legitimacy and accountability of American capitalism, not by controlling public companies, but by taking them over entirely, and removing them from public discourse and public scrutiny.

What can be done to check this level of power? Harvard law professor John Coates argues that only politics can fight the problem of twelve.

Author: John Coates
Publisher: Columbia Global Reports
Published: 08/15/2023
Pages: 190
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.30h x 4.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9798987053546


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2023