F J Handley: Tax Climate Polluters! Stop Genocide!

What most people already understand, even without the economic terminology, is that firms like BlackRock operate less like investors and more like modern feudal landlords. They buy essential infrastructure,water networks, ports, energy grids, data centres, and other public necessities, often using vast amounts of borrowed money and paying prices that ordinary market participants cannot match. Once the acquisition is complete, the debt is pushed onto the acquired company itself. The result is simple: the public pays. Consumers repay that debt through higher water bills, rising energy prices, increased fees, and declining service quality. The infrastructure becomes a cash-extraction machine. Profits flow upward to shareholders and executives, while the financial burden flows downward to ordinary households. When the model inevitably breaks down, the consequences are socialised. Communities are left with crumbling infrastructure, polluted rivers and failing services. Thames Water's £14 billion debt mountain and repeated sewage scandals are a stark example of what happens when financial engineering takes precedence over public stewardship. The executives who loaded the company with debt have already collected their bonuses. The investors have already taken their returns. And when the system finally reaches its breaking point, taxpayers are expected to pick up the bill. Privatise the gains. Socialise the losses. That is the business model......