American finance just swallowed a year of all-time records without blinking
The era of speedball capitalism
In a single year, American markets absorbed the biggest IPO ever (SpaceX), the largest equity raise (Google), the biggest private funding round (OpenAI) and private-debt deal (Broadcom), plus a record $1trn ETF from Vanguard and the largest leveraged buyout (Electronic Arts). Even scandals and hedge-fund blow-ups barely register. The Economist's Schumpeter column calls this relentless, totalizing machine speedball capitalism.
Worries about massive corporate scandals and hedge-fund blow-ups, which would have once occupied investors' attention for months, are steamrollered by the relentless, totalising and extraordinarily flexible machine that is American finance.
- Avicebron
- 650
The intro is great and has been making the rounds online:
“ In the past year American markets have digested the largest-ever initial public offering (SpaceX), equity raise by a public company (Google) or a foreign firm (sk Hynix), private-funding round (Openai) and private-debt deal (Broadcom), as well as most of the biggest bond issue in history (Amazon). There was the first $1trn exchange-traded fund, or etf (Vanguard), a record-breaking cash pile (Berkshire Hathaway) and stock-buyback programme (Nvidia), and the consummation of the largest-ever leveraged buyout (Electronic Arts). Then there are the enormous mergers in railways (Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern), utilities (NextEra and Dominion Energy) and media (Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery)—the last of which led, this week, to the largest ever junk-bond offering, beating a record set only last week (SoftBank). New markets have been created out of thin air (for compute) or become much bigger (for predictions). Worries about massive corporate scandals (First Brands) and hedge-fund blow-ups (Situational Awareness), which would have once occupied investors’ attention for months, are steamrollered by the relentless, totalising and extraordinarily flexible machine that is American finance.”
- nertzy
How does all this look adjusted for inflation?
When inflation is high, numbers go up more than usual. Indeed, that is the thing being inflated.
But seriously I’m curious, are these outpacing inflation? Probably, I guess?
Gone With The Wind is never going to be matched in the box office but the numbers are bigger now.