The Hidden Hand of Investment Management Companies By Kelson Maynard


 

The present  euphoria of the Harris/Walz campaign against the Trump/Vance campaign has put in stark relief the stakes involved: a challenge to the control of  investment management firms that control approximately $50 trillion in assets.  These firms by virtue of these enormous assets  wield unparallel economic and political power.  They use this power to shape policies that deepen economic inequalities in the United States of America and globally.

Investment management companies such as Black Rock, Vanguard, UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), Fidelity, State Street, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase decide where that $50 trillion will be invested.  It is the role of the government of the United States of America, its military, and its intelligence agencies to protect that vital capital investment of those companies and others in the United States of America and globally.

These investment companies have approximately $400 billion invested in oil and gas producing companies. They have approximately $250 billion combined invested in Archer-Daniels-Midland($85 billion), and $165 billion in Cargill, both food production companies. These investment companies’ investment practices are directly related to the global climate catastrophe, rising food prices and malnutrition.  Approximately 25,000 people die daily globally from malnutrition. Nonetheless, one of Trump’s mantras is “drill, drill, drill, and the relaxation of governmental regulation on these very industries.

Yet, the persuasive apparatus in the United States of America and elsewhere in the capitalist world seeks to defend these investment management companies’ capitalist interest under the guise  of good governance and national security.  Authoritarian paternalism is precisely the form of government they favor.  They insist that capitalism can be beneficial and equitable, even though inequality and poverty is increasing in many capitalist countries.

However, these investment management companies are vulnerable to mass politics and mass social movements.  They are afraid of revolution from below, civil rights movements, anti-poverty movements, and urban unrest. Thus, these movements are violently repressed by neo-capitalist governments worldwide.

The Harris/Walz campaign must harness and support mass politics and social movements to defeat the Trump/Vance campaign and the titans of investment management companies they represent.  The momentum the Harris/Walz campaign currently enjoys will dissipate otherwise.

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