I had read about the rise of institutional investors, mutual funds, pension funds and the like, but a NYT op-ed by Eric Posner, Fiona Scott Morton and Glen Weyl places that rise in terms that require thought, if not concern. In 1950 institutional investors made up 7% of the market, today it is 70%. Among the largest investors are Blackrock with a total of 5 billion in assets and Vanguard with a total of 3.5 billion. These firms, which obviously buy substantial amount of stock, work for the benefit of their customers, not necessarily (more…)