One aspect missed is that the government is getting juiced by leveraged PE deals, so a good chunk of PE returns are the tax deductions from the interest on the

One aspect missed is that the government is getting juiced by leveraged PE deals, so a good chunk of PE returns are the tax deductions from the interest on the debt that gets split between debt issuers and PE firms. Why isn't everyone becoming a PE firm then? They did at some point in the 80s (re-watch Pretty Woman), when there was a plethora of private companies with lots of "fat" cash reserves on them and management that would rather spend that on private jets than return them to shareholders. Well-off corporate executives inspired PE activity. Well-off PE managers drained the market of cash cows and tightened corporate rules. The funny thing is in the real world, if you advertise how successful you are, you attract competitors, which is why I find it quite puzzling that the first thing startup founders do is advertise on TechCrunch when they've raised a big round. It's like saying "Look how much money is in that pot of gold over there, we are running for it." Does the value of the signalling increase the risks/damage from it? Would love to get your thoughts.