My interpretive dance about the two companies that own the world. Vanguard and BlackRock. In case you’re wondering why France is protesting!!! #capitalism #dance #money #business #wallstreet
Not very good information. Blackrock and Vanguard (and State Street, who manage the SPY index fund) dominate the index fund market, so they "own" a significant chunk of every tradable company, but that backs shares of ETFs and mutual funds which are actually owned by others. If I had to guess, I think most of the truly wealthy probably don't own much via index funds and mutual funds. Index funds and mutual funds probably skew to 401ks. The real assholes concentrate their ownership on a few things, rather than all companies equally, so they can get control of companies. Still most stock is owned by a small number of people and I think most shares of index funds are owned by a small number of people, and our obsession with post hoc justifications for the highest possible return to capital benefit a pretty small number of people immensely and you're probably not one of them.
Yeah, that was my problem with the video too. However, it is worth noting that even though an individual might own a share of an exchange-traded mutual fund, they almost never receive any voting power. This isn't surprising, because it's basically like owning a fraction of a fraction of a share. What is worth wondering, however, is who gets the vote. Imo Blackrock and Vanguard do - it's not like they're secretly and evilly controlling the world's economy, but they do certainly tend to vote in the interests of their shares not dropping in value.
Not very good information. Blackrock and Vanguard (and State Street, who manage the SPY index fund) dominate the index fund market, so they "own" a significant chunk of every tradable company, but that backs shares of ETFs and mutual funds which are actually owned by others. If I had to guess, I think most of the truly wealthy probably don't own much via index funds and mutual funds. Index funds and mutual funds probably skew to 401ks. The real assholes concentrate their ownership on a few things, rather than all companies equally, so they can get control of companies. Still most stock is owned by a small number of people and I think most shares of index funds are owned by a small number of people, and our obsession with post hoc justifications for the highest possible return to capital benefit a pretty small number of people immensely and you're probably not one of them.
Yeah, that was my problem with the video too. However, it is worth noting that even though an individual might own a share of an exchange-traded mutual fund, they almost never receive any voting power. This isn't surprising, because it's basically like owning a fraction of a fraction of a share. What is worth wondering, however, is who gets the vote. Imo Blackrock and Vanguard do - it's not like they're secretly and evilly controlling the world's economy, but they do certainly tend to vote in the interests of their shares not dropping in value.
Well, I sure can't sort all this nonsense out. Maybe God can? We can send this free marketplace of ideas over to Them.