Bloomberg Wealth had a PEU to PEU interview. Host David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group and Declaration Partners spoke with Oaktree's Howard Marks.
Rubenstein referred to private equity geniuses. Friends might use another name (starts with "P" and rhymes with geniuses).
In prior interviews he spoke of private equity underwriters (PEU) doing God's work. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, so the "barbarian" moniker is a better fit.
Marks said "Nobody ever repays their debts. They just refinance it.... Many more companies are going to flounder." It's the looming "loan to own" era.
Rubenstein spoke of the $32 trillion national debt but neither man confessed to their role in preserving private equity's preferred "carried interest" taxation.
Marks said he would serve the government as part of his civic duty. That is an established role for Wall Street giants and PEUs. The Biden cabinet is chock full of PEU boys. It's a feature of our democracy, that uber wealthy insiders volunteer for government service in order to keep the system stacked in their favor.
Bloomberg is generous in giving these two men a platform to increase their obscene levels of wealth and influence.
