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Yep, I’m a product of a generation of people that prided themselves in producing goods.

Using someone elses money (possibly the huge resources of the LDS Church) to merge companies, forcing some out of business, while building up others, is a little like money changing to me.

Of course, your opinion will vary, especially if you’re in one of the like-kind fields. Personally, we people in the flyover country, are out in our fields producing gross national product. To me, it has more value. But, what can I say, I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl.

In today’s markets, the business environment changes very quickly. We have a saying that you either grow or die. Sometimes private venture and private equity seems like a harsh mistress, but more often than not, they cause the greater good to survive. Let’s take XX Semiconductor (made up for this example). They can’t compete as a small company along with Intel and large companies. They used to be great, but other companies just plain grew faster and had better leveraged positions. XX Semiconductor must change to compete, but change involves capital. They could, on one hand, load up on debt, or on the other hand, look for partners. This is where VCs and PEs come into play. They can buy XX Semiconductor or invest in it, combine the resources of its other assets, and help it grow and position itself in a unique niche.

Sure, there will be some layoffs in many cases like this, but more often than not, the alternative would be worse. You can’t expect businesses to be able to go on business as usual. I do a lot of consulting for small businesses and I can tell you the ones that won’t survive competing with big box stores (for example) are the ones that aren’t willing to change and want things to just go on as they always have.

Let’s use farm production for example. At the turn of the 20th century, 1 farm would feed one or two families. Now, big farms have banded together, often with the help of capital investment, one farm can feed millions. Yes, there are some farmers that were displaced, but generally those were ones who wouldn’t adapt or accept and work with the change. They are the ones who thought they could go business as usual. The ones who did adapt and were willing to change generally became the owners of the mega farms.