© Reuters/Gary He
Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group
Predatory private equity firms buying up neighborhoods only to rent homes at a premium hints at
the real meaning of the World Economic Forum's "sharing economy." Americans never voted for this, but their leaders are loving it.
Owning a home is no longer feasible for Americans coming of age in the 21st century, according to Bloomberg columnist Karl Smith, who smugly
suggested in an op-ed that they stop worrying about whether they can afford a house, ignore the asset-stripping investment vultures, and just embrace the depressing reality of lifelong debt peonage under the rule of those same private equity giants.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, the feudalist character of this glorious new "sharing economy" is reflected in one increasingly popular "solution" for
the generation currently facing the steep uphill climb to pay off their student loans. Under this scheme, known as Student Loan Asset Backed Securities (
SLABs), students are invited to essentially indenture themselves to some corporation, paying off their debts by selling off a percentage of every paycheck they subsequently receive until the balance is zero. Any questions?
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