There is a sad little piece in The Hill today about the SEIU mugging private equity firms – because they can.  The heart of the story is that “the public is starting to see the private equity industry as a money pot to pay for sweeping changes in social policy.”  Certainly one way to pay for things that you want is to just grab the money from somebody else!

The small problem is that punishing people for success is very bad – and wrong – economic policy.  Private equity funds have been around for decades and all of the evidence is that they create significant value and jobs for the economy.  They take underperforming assets and make then performing.  They also take lots of risks with lots of money.  It is not always a pretty process, but it is a necessary one that has created billions – if not trillions – of dollars in value for our economy. 

So now the SEIU has decided that if it can’t be successful in the normal way – like actually getting people to join unions – it will take on people it views as politically unsympathetic.  Bashing successful people is always good sport, and it does distract from looking at the foibles and conflicts within the “union industry” itself.  Why create a real value proposition for workers when you can spend time throwing tomatoes at rich folks?!

If this goes unchallenged then we really will be moving quickly down the road to an economy that punishes innovation and risk-taking – and rewards public bullying.  If we allow that to happen, then we certainly will also get the economy we deserve.