This book traces the historical rise of private equity finance in the US and UK over the last 40 years. It shows how this new industry has grown as credit markets have grown. It is clearly explained for the non-expert how financial gearing works in a leveraged buyout.

JAMIE MORGAN has lived and worked in China, Thailand and the USA. He has published in a wide variety of journals on subjects as diverse as political economy, Chinese areas studies, philosophy, international relations theory and social theory. He is currently researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland.