Thread by @ddayen

The "it's just an index fund" people obscure BlackRock's habit of placing officials in top government positions around the world, to conjure up business for the company from scratch
But Matt doesn't follow me anymore because he's afraid of debate, so

prospect.org/economy/blackr…

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1334550848563781635

BlackRock "purchased stakes in Mexican toll roads, hospitals, gas pipelines, prisons, oil exploration businesses, & a coal-fired power plant," not shares but stakes in the infrastructure, increasing the value through contacts in the Mexican govt. This has been replicated globally

"a contractor named Grupo Tradeco continually missed deadlines for building a private prison in Coahuila state, with accusations of 2.5bn pesos in waste. But right before BlackRock bought the project, Peña Nieto increased the construction payments for the prison by 18 percent"

"In June 2015, BlackRock acquired a scandal-ridden Mexican private equity firm called I Cuadrada for $71m. A month later, Sierra Oil & Gas, a year-old portfolio company of I Cuadrada that had never drilled an oil well, won 2 major exploration contracts from PEMEX." And on & on

Also BlackRock is not just an index fund, it licenses a trading platform to 900 outlets among 65 countries, many of which it owns shares in, a significant conflict of interest. economicliberties.us/our-work/new-m…

It also manages 401(k)s and pension funds for the same companies it manages ownership stakes in.
It also manages bond trading for the Fed while purchasing a disproportionate share of stakes in bonds from its own offerings. prospect.org/coronavirus/un…