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In me it seems more of an expression with a general dissatisifaction with the current massive conglomerates that seem to be ossfying into a defacto ruling class

In me it seems more of an expression with a general dissatisifaction with the current massive conglomerates that seem to be ossfying into a defacto ruling class. Blackrock is a massive player that is by some accounts, possibly the largest and most powerful hedge fund in the world, that is doing things like buying up houses to rent out, pursuing ESG initiatives extensively etc. It's not about the pensions so much as it is an expression of outrage about the powerlessness people are feeling and directing it at what is precieved to be one of the sources of that powerlessness.

dangwhy 4y ago
> buying up houses to rent out I've seen this reported many times even in places like nytimes but never seen actual numbers behind it. I 've read number between 3% and even as high as 20% . My impression was it was ordinary upper income ppl like high end tech workers , retirees ect that were doing most of the buying and renting. A vast majority of my friends now own rental properties by directly buying them or turning their previous residence into a rental. We all want one evil villain to blame but reality is much more complicated. Thats why movements like occupy wall st acoomplish nothing. Wouldn't it be easy if the problem can be solved by taking down one evil dude in his castle. https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22524829/wall-street-housing-market-blackrock-bubble https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22524829/wall-street-housin...
- TylerE 4y ago
  Gotta start somewhere. Taking out one evil dude = one less evil dude = better society. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good.
- mistermann 4y ago
  > We all want one evil villain to blame but reality is much more complicated. Thats why movements like occupy wall st acoomplish nothing. Whether the demise of OWS was 100% due to their shortcomings and actions is speculative - a lot of people think the original demise and subsequent massive increase in culture war catching the media's attention (and in turn, dividing the public on yet another contentious issue) was to some degree coordinated...and I am one of those people.
- legitster 4y ago
  Blackrock never actually directly invested in rental properties. BlackSTONE did, and poor Twitter journalism led people to believe they were the same company. FWIW: institutional investors buying up single-family-homes (at least in the US) never really worked out. The FHA and VA programs are such huge players in the US loan market that individual investors can still outcompete big guys on financing.
  - mistrial9 4y ago
    > single-family-homes (at least in the US) never really worked out. this is mis-information by incompleteness. There are records and there are lies, with a non-zero overlap. Source- investor/accountant with a US California Masters degree in Taxation
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  The failure of Occupy was in trying to establish a parallel polity and engage in discourse, because there was no plan about what to do next. Prefiguration is a misleading political fantasy.
legitster 4y ago
I have no idea why Blackrock is such a lightning rod for bad financial literacy. Blackrock is not a hedge fund. They are an asset manager. They take your money and park it into the market for you. To the extent that they exercise any discretion over the market basically comes down to the stock blend they put into their otherwise very boring index fund options. (BTW, BlackSTONE was the company that was buying up houses.) > In me it seems more of an expression with a general dissatisifaction with the current massive conglomerates that seem to be ossfying into a defacto ruling class. Okay, sure. If you want to take down global capitalism, go for it. But functional pension programs rely on bond and investment markets to function. If French politicians are looking for ways to keep their pension programs from collapsing, attacking the mechanisms that service your pension programs dilutes your message.
yardie 4y ago
I think you have Blackrock confused with Blackstone. A slightly different hedge fund that is heavily invested in REIT. This is quite a common occurrence and even I get them confused.

dangwhy 4y ago

> buying up houses to rent out I've seen this reported many times even in places like nytimes but never seen actual numbers behind it. I 've read number between 3% and even as high as 20% . My impression was it was ordinary upper income ppl like high end tech workers , retirees ect that were doing most of the buying and renting. A vast majority of my friends now own rental properties by directly buying them or turning their previous residence into a rental. We all want one evil villain to blame but reality is much more complicated. Thats why movements like occupy wall st acoomplish nothing. Wouldn't it be easy if the problem can be solved by taking down one evil dude in his castle. https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22524829/wall-street-housing-market-blackrock-bubble https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22524829/wall-street-housin...

TylerE 4y ago
Gotta start somewhere. Taking out one evil dude = one less evil dude = better society. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good.
mistermann 4y ago
> We all want one evil villain to blame but reality is much more complicated. Thats why movements like occupy wall st acoomplish nothing. Whether the demise of OWS was 100% due to their shortcomings and actions is speculative - a lot of people think the original demise and subsequent massive increase in culture war catching the media's attention (and in turn, dividing the public on yet another contentious issue) was to some degree coordinated...and I am one of those people.
legitster 4y ago
Blackrock never actually directly invested in rental properties. BlackSTONE did, and poor Twitter journalism led people to believe they were the same company. FWIW: institutional investors buying up single-family-homes (at least in the US) never really worked out. The FHA and VA programs are such huge players in the US loan market that individual investors can still outcompete big guys on financing.
- mistrial9 4y ago
  > single-family-homes (at least in the US) never really worked out. this is mis-information by incompleteness. There are records and there are lies, with a non-zero overlap. Source- investor/accountant with a US California Masters degree in Taxation
anigbrowl 4y ago
The failure of Occupy was in trying to establish a parallel polity and engage in discourse, because there was no plan about what to do next. Prefiguration is a misleading political fantasy.

legitster 4y ago

I have no idea why Blackrock is such a lightning rod for bad financial literacy. Blackrock is not a hedge fund. They are an asset manager. They take your money and park it into the market for you. To the extent that they exercise any discretion over the market basically comes down to the stock blend they put into their otherwise very boring index fund options. (BTW, BlackSTONE was the company that was buying up houses.) > In me it seems more of an expression with a general dissatisifaction with the current massive conglomerates that seem to be ossfying into a defacto ruling class. Okay, sure. If you want to take down global capitalism, go for it. But functional pension programs rely on bond and investment markets to function. If French politicians are looking for ways to keep their pension programs from collapsing, attacking the mechanisms that service your pension programs dilutes your message.

yardie 4y ago

I think you have Blackrock confused with Blackstone. A slightly different hedge fund that is heavily invested in REIT. This is quite a common occurrence and even I get them confused.