About this episode
Ralph discusses private equity's impact on the American Dream with Megan Greenwell and the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon with James Zogby.
Ralph welcomes journalist and author Megan Greenwell to discuss her book "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream." Then, Ralph speaks to James Zogby (co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute) about the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Megan Greenwell is a journalist who has written or edited for publications including the New York Times , the Washington Post , New York Magazine , WIRED , and ESPN . She is also the deputy director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a workshop and college-access initiative for students from low-income backgrounds. She is the author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream . The real trick with private equity (and this was the thing that made me want to write a book on it) is that when they take out those billions of dollars worth of loans (if you’re buying a bigger company), the private equity firm is not responsible for paying those loans back. Only the portfolio company in whose name the private equity firm has taken the money out is on the hook for that money. And so what you end up with is this split in incentive where what’s good for the private equity firm is not…
People in this episode
Host: Ralph Nader
Guests: Megan Greenwell, James Zogby
Topics covered
- private equity
- American Dream
- journalism
- Israeli attacks
- politics
- government influence
Keywords
- private equity
- American Dream
- Megan Greenwell
- James Zogby
- Israeli attacks
- politics
- journalism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Arab American Institute, New York Times, Washington Post, New York Magazine, WIRED, ESPN
Books & works: Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
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