Imagine that the U.S. government decides to invest $3 billion of taxpayer money in a Chinese private equity firm.
Now substitute "Chinese" for "U.S." (and vice versa), and you have today’s news story about the Republic of China’s purchase of a stake in private equity outfit Blackstone.
China of course remains Communist, and the U.S. persists in its capitalist thrust. But any government’s investing in a "private" equity strikes a discordant note. It makes "private" near-meaningless, if not deceptive. Or does it? Possibly it exposes a public-private connection that already exists.
Barry Barnett
