Private equity’s struggles may be harbinger of a bigger economic crash

Investors in private equity firms are in a bit of a bind. Maureen Farrell reported in The New York Times this month that they are sitting on 33,575 companies they have not been able to sell or list at prices their investors will accept. This is up from 32,451 at the end of last year and roughly double the 15,923 they held a decade ago. It is the third consecutive year the pile of unsellable assets has grown. And the way PE firms like to exit their holdings, by selling their companies to a buyer...