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.

This quiet accumulation in the last few decades represents a dramatic transformation in how the American economy operates--a sea change that few of us have noticed and all of us need to consider. Harvard law professor John Coates forcefully calls our attention to what is sure to be one of the major political and economic issues of our time.


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
Choice 04/01/2024

About the Author
Coates, John: - John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, where he also serves as Deputy Dean and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. He has served as General Counsel and Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission; before joining Harvard, he was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in financial institutions and M&A. He has testified before Congress and provided consulting services to the Department of Justice, the Department of Treasury, and the New York Stock Exchange. He lives in Newton, MA.