What is Europe's most obscure cash flow?
Pitch your idea
How ‘dirty’ are private equity investments? While investment and pension funds are increasingly committed to upholding social and ecological values, Karen wondered whether this also holds true for private equity funds. With 133 votes, her pitch was the second most popular pitch.
Phase 1: Submit pitches
Open for everybody
Completed
Phase 2: Work out your pitch
The top 5
Completed
Phase 3: Feedback and publication
The winning pitch: How private equity is reshaping the economy of Europe
Completed
For a good reason: fuelled by extremely low interest rates, the private equity industry has been booming in recent years. Profit-seeking investors inject money in companies and are not afraid to implement drastic changes to increase short term productivity.
Private equity is deeply woven into the fabric of the European economy and it is here to stay. It impacts our climate, the future of our economy, and social rights. As such, it should be scrutinised – thoroughly. And that’s exactly what we will do: it’s the winning pitch.
Other close finalists included two pitches concerning renewables: the ins and outs of the emissions trading system (Brussels’ way of taxing Europe’s biggest polluters) and the wind farm industry. Although interesting, it quickly became clear that both topics have been extensively tackled by other media, which left very little room for our collaboration to truly make its mark.
Another pitch was about the Fiware project, which was set up in Brussels as an inclusive IT-platform for local, regional and national governments and organisations to better work together in the digital sphere. The pitch alleged that the project has been deemed a financial failure and that its dealings deserved to be exposed. We wholly agree and our Politico colleagues even went so far as to hail it as ‘the ideal project for the Brussels bubble [..] if it had been pitched ten years ago’. Thus, we fail to see the topic's urgency at this point and have therefore not chosen it as the winner.
Lastly, the lottery project had a very narrow scope, with most of the bigger European lotteries being active in either the Netherlands or in Belgium, leaving little room for our partners to join the collaboration.
You can read more about why we decided that private equity is Europe’s most obscure cash flow here.
Winning pitch
European investors financing dirty private equity firms
European investors usually have quite strong Social & Environmental (S&E) policies of which companies (not) to invest in, but they also inve...
Jury comment
Private equity is deeply woven into the fabric of the European economy and it is here to stay. It impacts our climate, the future of our economy, and social rights. As such, it should be scrutinised – thoroughly. And that’s exactly what we will do: it’s the winningpitch.Search results
All pitches (67)
Russian Collaborations at Netherland's premier Contemporary Art Museum
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Equity Investment is Rigged: Consider meme stocks....
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Selling the State for Personal Profit
The Schröder Model: What prominent jobs, and particularly, what material or financial assets have former EU heads of government gotten after...
European investors financing dirty private equity firms
European investors usually have quite strong Social & Environmental (S&E) policies of which companies (not) to invest in, but they also inve...
Car manufacturing industry - How much subsidy is involved in building a European car?
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Boeren cooperatie ontstaan vanwege subsidie ogv aantal hectares
Hoe groter aantal hectares hoe hoger subsidie per hectare
Company finance and results in real life
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Dutch coffee shops fund organised crime
In The Netherlands, it's forbidden to grow cannabis plants. This means that coffee shops, while practicing a tolerated business - selling le...
Networks of laws company s and governals from top to detail
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E-commerce and customs/VAT fraud
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Adtech industry and realtime bidding
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Why is the Bosnian war still continuing?
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Pharmaceutical industry
All the COVID19 subsidies en support. I think it's about millions or trillions of euros.
Foreign financing of political parties
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The 5 trillion that was spended by the ECB on equity and debt , mainly south European countries
Will the money ever return to the ECB?
Consultancy companies whom are also joining WEF and DAVOS
Globally large consultancy companies whom are also present or organize events like WEF and DAVOS are always the only consultancy suppliers o...
government + lottery subsidies for 'ngo's'
Lots of ngo's, like Natuur & Milieu, Vluchtelingenwerk, Urgenda, Oxfam, get hundreds of millions of subsidies every year to do their work. T...
Is fighting inflation ECBs first priority?
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Are there more postcodeloterijen?
In the Netherlands there is an enormous political influence of the postcodeloterij, and that seems internationally, What is their influence ...
Delabeling income and capital to avoid tax
EU is very bureaucratic and legal focussed. Rich people who should contribute to the society hide their money in order to avoid tax payments...
Inconsequential results of Slovenia's secret language research
Researchers into the Slovenian language e.g. @ZrcSazu preen themselves while actual teaching time amounts to 0.021828473545247 seconds of in...
The bribe/lobby kitty of oil and gas companies
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EU subsidies destroy small organizations
Only the big parties use it and too much money goes to so-called financial control. It takes a lot of knowledge, time and money to write an ...
Why did we spend billions making FIWARE?
Under Nelie Kroes the European commission had the initiative for the EU to have a software stack that startups and established companies cou...
Frontex or Backtax
Frontex is financed with EU money but we know very little about this security organisation. Why do we know so little about this organization...
Subsidies for Agriculture
I think the agriculture sector is one of the most expensive volume of money at the European Union. I think itwould bronchiëctasieën better t...
Why science isn't trusted; Universities' donors, trust funds and intellectual theft
Universities in Europe are giant money making machines. Heavily subsidized, they ask students to pay higher and higher fees while underpayin...
European subsidies for fossil fuel producers
Fossile-fuel producers receive 9,5 million euros per minute of Government subsidies. This was concluded by the International Monetair Fund...
Agricultural subsidies
They subsidize the largest farmers most who are responsible for largest environmental damage and refuse to change because of this money. Mos...
Influence buying by tech giants
Tech giants spend a lot of money on political lobbies to buy influence for legislation about, for example, Self Sovereign Identities based o...
Agricultural subsidies to European farmers
The most Money goes to the farmers in Europe. No level playing field and too diverse in Europe
Surveillaince, digital identity and digital money
Who profits from increasing surveillance, digital identity and digital money in the E.U.?
Quantitative easing is de grootste waarderoof en systemisch
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Environmental crime through so called recycling companies
Our environment is polluted by all sorts of waste. The Environmental business is booming, but knowledge and control is limited. This provide...
Ukraina
To who does go money after crossing the border. Who has pockets more and more fat.
Where does my rent go?
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Through the 'React-EU', money is quickly provided to the regions of the European States hardest hit by the Corona crisis to stimulate a gree...
Hiding money through relatives
Since 2019, Switzerland has made it more difficult for foreigners to hide money in Swiss bank accounts. But this doesn't apply to Swiss citi...
Fines and Subsidies
Subsidies are paid to companies and individuals while there are still debts that cannot be collected. There should be a central current acco...
The international road of drugs related money transfers
Within the EU the drugs consumption is supposed to be gigantic. The Billions of Euro's involded come back with investments in legal property...
Subsidies as sophisticated corruption system
Subsidies tend to divert to political friends and (personal) networks. Where is the difference between corruption and the routing of subsidi...
Who profits from the energy transition?
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Turkey funnels a lot of prohibited trade to countries like Russia and Iran
Panama Papers 2.0: “The Reckoning”
Follow up on the Panama Papers, per country.
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Eu-union investments
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The questionable advertising revenue from Google
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Subsidies for fossil fuel
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To track & trace the largest speculations. To follow the investments and their profits, especially abroad. Were the buildings abroad, in wh...
Orban's and Poland corruption leaders use EU
Goverments are anti EU, but get big money from EU. Fraude ?
ANSWER (no brainer): CAP (Common Agricultural Policy).
Destroying the price for farmers in developing countries.
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The CAP has been around for ages, and it's a HUGE part of the EU's budget ("only" 37% in 2017). Given its age and the vague and conflicting ...