Disaster Capitalism Strikes as Hedge Funds Circle Near-Bankrupt Municipalities Like Vultures

A troubling pattern emerges as private funds seek to profit from beleaguered cities

- Jon Queally, staff writer

In Detroit, a once bustling city at the center of the US economy, the hedge fund vultures are circling.

But first, a moment of background, employing Naomi Klein's contemporary classic The Shock Doctrine, which tells the story of how purveyors of aggressive capitalism take advantage of crises and public vulnerability in order to push through neoliberal policies and profit-motivated financial arrangements.

Played out in various spheres before and after the book's publication in 2005, the idea of 'disaster capitalism' has been at the center of austerity politics on both sides of the Atlantic (and around the world) in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. And now, in places like Detroit, its taking place in US communities at the municipal level as towns and cities hit hard by diminished economies and the slashing of public services are struggling on the edge of bankruptcy.