The forces behind an economic and political crisis in the makingampampamp10ampampamp10A ampampquotproblem of twelveampampquot arises when a small number of institutions acquire the means to exert outsized influence over the politics and economy of a nation.ampampamp10ampampamp10The Big Four index funds of Vanguard State Street Fidelity and BlackRock control more than twenty percent of the votes of SampampampampP 500 companiesa concentration of power thats unprecedented in America. Then thereampampamp8217s the rise of private equity funds such as the Big Four of Apollo Blackstone Carlyle and KKR which has amassed 2.7 trillion of assets and are eroding the legitimacy and accountability of American capitalism not by controlling public companies but by taking them over entirely and removing them from public discourse and public scrutiny.ampampamp10ampampamp10This quiet accumulation in the last few decades represents a dramatic transformation in how the American economy operatesampampamp8212a sea change that few of us have noticed and all of us need to consider.