Given the share buybacks and delisting, US capitalism can no longer be acceptable

A historical feature of US capitalism is that it is share-based and mainstream: US companies traditionally raise financing in the listed equity market, and share ownership is widespread among the population. But the massive share buybacks by US companies as well as the fact that many companies are exiting the listed equity market are profoundly chang ing the nature of US capitalism: US companies are increasingly owned by private equity funds and high-wealth individuals, and decreasingly by savers as a whole. The United States is therefore end ing up with a very different type of capitalism: minority and no longer mainstream (companies are no longer owned by a large share of the population) and speculative (share buybacks and debt leverage artificially inflate the return on equity).