Mark Blyth- Asset Manager Capitalism

[@velvetsound]

I miss Mark presenting in his basement with his guitars on the wall. Another fascinating talk. Thank you Mark.

[@Pinstripe0451]

Mark is brilliant and illuminating because he can impart his knowledge intelligibly to financial illiterates.

[@tonywilson4713]

That's his great ability. Part of it comes from his origins. He didn't come from wealth he had to earn his way. One of his great statements was when he recently said "I am proof that public education works."

[@tonywilson4713]

@KahThurakArfai You have the wrong word. You should use "academic" instead of "scientific" so it reads that they "hide the corruption with academic language." I hope you are NOT trying to include Mark as one of these corrupt elitists because you are quite wrong if you are. On the capital flight theme. Mark has repeatedly stated that he'd like to see better accounting and reporting so that people know which companies on the stock market are sound because they function versus those that are just good at tax management. As for Elitism in academia Mark hasn't only pointed that out he also pointed out how the Democrats in particular only seem to recruit from Harvard and Yale. But the rot and corruption out of those 2 places runs way deeper than most people realise. The Federalist Society started at Harvard & Yale with the specific goal of dominating the court system. 14 of the last 18 people on SCOTUS including 8 of the current 9 went to Harvard or Yale. Of the 7 potential replacements for Judge Breyer 5, including Ketanji Browne Jackson are Harvard or Yale. Both Clintons were Yale, while both Obamas, Ted Cruz (plus his wife who's a Goldman Sachs senior manager) and current AG Merrick Garland are all Harvard. I'm actually Australian but went to college in America. So I know how the US college system works. Like a lot of people around the world we are very concerned about the incredible influence peddling that's centred about Harvard & Yale. There's a lot of Harvard Business School people active here in Australia. Here in Australia anyone who tries to argue with a Harvard graduate or argue against the Harvard economic policies of neo-liberalism gets shot down.

[@tonywilson4713]

@KahThurakArfai You didn't fail, it just wasn't clear who you were referring to. Don't worry there are plenty of English speakers way worse.

[@tonywilson4713]

@KahThurakArfai On organising against the elitists its so very hard because their reputations are so ingrained culturally. I was just watching Mark talk with another Scotsman. Its totally worth watching. Right near the end Mark points out another scholar who analysed where Britain's Religious, Military and political leaders come from. Its very high numbers and they come from 9 private high schools and 2 Universities (Oxford and Cambridge). Mark describes British politics as "when Labour and Tories are shouting at each other from either side of the aisle it's basically two factions from Oxford and Cambridge having a pillow fight." You can almost say the same about America except its the Dems and GOP yelling at each other and its 2 factions from Harvard & Yale. We have almost the same in Australia except its Labour and the Coalition yelling at each other and its 2 factions from Melbourne U., Monash U., Sydney U, U. of Queensland and ANU. Its more universities because we are so spread out, but like Britain the number of private high schools involved is quite small.

[@mpetry912]

Great content, audio quality made it harder to absorb the message

[@slash196]

Mark Blyth makes you smarter, that's just a fact.

[@ultravioletiris6241]

Excellent excellent presentation. This reminds me of why various political theorists are starting to throw around “feudalism” as a term again (such as “techno-feudalism” , Yanis Varoufakis)

[@WitchVulgar]

Damn, and I thought I was "cool" and "edgy" and "unique" and "not like other girls" by saying "corporate feudalism". I guess I'm not "built different" after all

[@ultravioletiris6241]

@@WitchVulgar who is the knight class and who is the priest class under modern feudalism?

[@WitchVulgar]

@@ultravioletiris6241 idk, would cops and journalists/pundits fit those roles?

[@huss4realz]

Yeah i mean it's almost quite literally what this is

[@Nexusforce1]

@@ultravioletiris6241 The priests are the media and those who are pro corporate/finance in academia/think tanks while the knights are the conservative/military/intelligence sectors.

[@benday1218]

That's an excellent presentation, thank you.

[@dalriada]

This was so good I'd love to get a transcript.

[@buzoff4642]

Click on the little "...", just below the right side of the video. "Open Transcript". It's automated, so mangles some of his Scottish accent english.

[@barrybrown7305]

Full video?

[@jsmdnq]

The wealth gap is a measure of the psychopathy of humanity. The fact we let so few have so much power "just cause" is insane.

[@aerobique]

not trying to be too picky but this is crucial it is not a "psychopaty of humanity" (a fatalistic, but very common "misunderstanding" ) it is "structural violence", caused by system-level mechanisms that humanity is suffering from (to the point of cultural confusion and devastation that people often have no clue at all, but urging to call ou all sorts of horrible systemic, blatantly in-humane situations "human nature" to avoid even thinking about underlying, systemic causalities ) x

[@pamdemonia]

Fascinating as well as frightening.

[@thejaykal]

What's terrifiyng about this is that we've essentially managed to create a kind of corporate communism. 3 firms are the central planners.

[@StudioCutepet]

And for better or worse, apathetic central planners that 99 times out of 100, just go along with corporate management and their goals.

[@tynao2029]

"Corporate" communism is just communism. Communism has always been corporate, even if they didn't go by that name. They were simply government and their appendages, which in modern times includes corporations. It doesn't include truckers, peaceful protesters, small businessess, mom and pop shops, etc

[@tynao2029]

@@M.Linoge capitalism is a system where nothing infests it, it's simply individuals freely making choices in a free market. The only possible negative outcome that could result in capitalism is due to the individual making that decision

[@stationary_bandit6607]

Amazing talk! Thank you Professor Blyth!

[@zk3533]

Thank you Mark Blyth. You are great.

[@garretttedeman]

Dang, this was outstanding.

[@avidavid2525]

mark can I please buy you a mic?

[@BigHenFor]

The stream is 22:46 in length.

[@donaldsmeed5653]

That was illuminating.

[@jsmdnq]

People need to realize that the psychological and societal damage is far greater. Women whoring themselves out causes major psychological damage. Young men not being able to have a stable decent job causes major psychological damage. ETC. This damage doesn't effect just that person for their entire life but everyone they interact with specially their children. It is impossible to fix the damage. You can plaster over it but you cannot undo bad experiences.

[@carycunningham9510]

Sadly, spot on. Another good one.

[@koboldgeorge2140]

I used to care very deeply about the way these institutions were getting bailed out, but 2020 helped me recognize that the powerful are never going to have to eat any losses because the meaning of power is not having to lose if you don't want to (and why would you ever want to lose?) Trying to care about inequality or the rich "getting away with something" is a pointless endeavor. Much better to do what you personally are able to to get ahead than trying to tilt at windmills for the cause of "justice" or something. enlightening talk as always, thanks Mark.

[@glassbackdiy3949]

An excellent presentation, but what's the solution? How can we get governments to recognise the issue when they're part of the revolving door, if not already WEF "young global leaders"?

[@paulkoedel3099]

The solution is obvious in if the passivity is essentially a "capital strike" as Mark said and if you accept the notion that any economy is the play between capital and labor then logically the solution is _____________________. This is a quiz. Fill in the blank. You either get 100% or 0.

[@klam77]

@@paulkoedel3099 what? labor strike? revolt? overthrow the system?

[@redrockcrf4663]

My stream stopped at the 14:05 mark, couldn't get it to progress

[@leopoldkronecker1520]

To be honest, this deserves to be re recorded with a better microphone.

[@kikolatulipe]

The author of winners take all is Anand

[@jsmdnq]

Money/Fiat, by it's mathematical nature, is zero sum. As these "rich people" get richer the poor get poorer. Since the poor is the actual working class that keep society going as they are crushed under the weight of a society run by the rich(the rich generally are no more intelligent, ethical, or productive than the poor, in fact, generally they are much less so) who run it in to the ground. Those that run society are generally absolutely clueless on how a society truly works(they ultimately are very ignorant of the actual complexities involved ranging from the psychological factors, the economic ones, the resources distribution factors, intellectual factors, etc). They are good at control/manipulation but beyond that they fail just about every way. Given their ego and ignorance based mentalities generally they do far more damage... damage that takes a long time to show it's true colors.

[@webfreakz]

Please take that picture of Larry Fink out the presentation. I get spontaneous migraines every time I see him.

[@PoliticalEconomy101]

Great. Thanx. There is also a good diagram of an investment chain in the pdf called "Chains of Finance: How Investment Management is Shaped (2019)."

[@SpiritualAtheist]

We need a wealth CAP.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

We need no cap on anything. You need nothing. You don't need to own anything

[@mameokhun4319]

Mark is great speaker, but he needs a better mic at home.

[@marybusch6182]

His mic in the basement worked just fine.. I agree the mic this time made it hard to understand him.

[@mameokhun4319]

@@marybusch6182 maybe is a mic placement issue, hopefully he'll consider bring it closer next time.

[@SuperSpidey313]

Indeed. Like others have said, his setup in the basement is better. Guess he didn't want the guitars in the background this time. *shrug*

[@patrickdoyle9304]

And a new accent

[@Miguel_El_Chileno]

Please make Mark Blyth use a better microphone the next time you interview him

[@billguastalla1392]

This is gold

[@kurtappley4550]

Spectacular!

[@julianshepherd2038]

Mark. Got your cell looking nice.

[@krcalder]

I have looked at a slightly longer timeline and today’s inequality is easy to explain. Mariner Eccles, FED chair 1934 - 48, observed what the capital accumulation of neoclassical economics did to the US economy in the 1920s. “a giant suction pump had by 1929 to 1930 drawn into a few hands an increasing proportion of currently produced wealth. This served then as capital accumulations. But by taking purchasing power out of the hands of mass consumers, the savers denied themselves the kind of effective demand for their products which would justify reinvestment of the capital accumulation in new plants. In consequence as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When the credit ran out, the game stopped” A few people have all the money and everyone else gets by on debt. Is that why Keynes added redistribution? Yes, it stopped all the wealth concentrating at the top. A strong, healthy middle class developed in the West. Maggie and Reagan removed the redistribution and inequality soared as things returned to the old normal of neoclassical economics.

[@newagain9964]

“capital accumulation” didn’t start on 1920s tho. It had already existed at the start of the USA. The capitalists and savvy oligarchs used the gov to get even richer and restrict competition. EDIT: Keynes’ economic models and policies didn’t stop them either. Rather, helped.

[@krcalder]

@@newagain9964 Look at any graph of inequality. It goes down in the Keynesian era, and then rises again after it

[@tynao2029]

You have it backwards. Reagan and his ilk built the lower and middle classes, Keynes forcibly took all of their wealth via debt and government seizure, and gave it back to the ruling class

[@krcalder]

@@tynao2029 I think we must exist in parallel universes.

[@uncleshamus3451]

I think that what he is saying is that if you are not rich you’re fucked🤮🤪✌️

[@alanpope2062]

sounds about right

[@MrOliverwoods]

Mariner S. Eccles said the same thing in the 30’s

[@martingrillo6956]

unfortunately I don't understand huge parts of the mechanisms. Nevertheless I would definetly agree on most of Marks conclusions.

[@grantbeerling4396]

It just seems and reinforces Piketty's book; 'Capital of the 21str century' conclusion; we are returning to the world of Jane Austen and Balzak of the 1% living off huge capital assets ( app 100 x ave wage ensuring an income 5 times the national average income from the interest as a starting point, though even a mere x 20 could just about be possible on ave 5% per annum growth over labours growth 1%, ie r>g, noting that inflation does not actually affect capital, as the capital value just increases). Also recommend 'Capital Ideology' for an even more historical context and shows how cultural norms within a timeframe distort what is perceived as immoral in the 21st century that in the 17th was considered ok, ie the compensation of Slave owners for the loss of their 'property', including the independence of a country, ( Haiti ) taking 122 years! To pay back the 'loss of property' to France. Outrageous!

[@klam77]

Abject failure of "democracy". Abject, corrupt, con job failure.

[@jimpatterson2509]

The audio is terrible.

[@jakecarlo9950]

Someone please buy Mark a microphone 🎤

[@klam77]

Shocking statement: You can create unlimited number of ETFs for any given batch of underlying shares.

[@HansLemurson]

Hmmm...and what happens when ETFs start trading the shares of other ETFs?

[@klam77]

@@HansLemurson ah thank you! now i see! it's like the "unlimited credit replication of GFC '08! Noithing changes with the elite....the same wars....the same arrogance....the same lies.....the same money methods.

[@IHSchwingo]

Mark, for the sake of capitalism, get a decent microphone!

[@ujean56]

Has anyone done a study of how complexity in the financial system is part and parcel with the obfuscation of openness with the express purpose of allowing theft from the bottom up? The lingo and nomenclature of finance is clearly intended to mystify any and every process the financiers come up with. It is the language of inequality. In plain language - it's bull sh*t. Mr. Blyth speaks the language and, at risk of sounding like an apologist, he is skilled at cutting through the bull. Excellent analysis - thanks.

[@kikolatulipe]

The Scottish is funny … Stop the steal hahahaha

[@black__bread]

The chat galloped thru a lot of theoretically derived assumptions without much/any supporting data and even the assumptions appeared potentially contradictory in places e.g. the practical power relationship ramifications of universal ownership leading to illiquidity. Even just explaining what an ETF is, who buys them and why would have been helpful. Kinda surprised TBH. (edit - adding notes - this was just such a cockamamie notion shat out at exactly the wrong moment. I realise Adam Tooze was involved but dude, seriously, debating which part of the US financial sector owns shit is dumb at a time when Russia, China and Saudi Arabia are debating their relationships vs the West. This just comes across as a genuinely shit theory amped up on US financial sector fixation hubris. And the power point slides are mostly clownshoes if you actually read what they say)

[@elkoraco]

the guy is a joke

[@nevermind6270]

I wonder how someone so smart and well educated can absolutely ignore the sound quality of his online presentation. Come on, man, just buy a microphone, don't rely on the shity mic in your laptop. Its almost painful to listen to.

[@justgivemethetruth]

Who is going to trust a guy who cannot even afford to heat his house up to participate in a videoconference? ;-) Dude looks like he is freezing.