Want to know capitalism’s endgame? Just look at private equity – it has captured our everyday lives | Hettie O'Brien

These companies now own everything from nurseries to care homes, squeezing vital services for profit while we foot the bill It was the free croissants that gave it away. And the Scandinavian-style furniture. And the tasteful pastel walls. It was different from other nurseries I’d viewed: marginally more expensive, the aesthetic equivalent of a WeWork for toddlers. I was eight months pregnant, on a tour of various nurseries in south-east London for my daughter. At the time, I didn’t realise th...

By Hettie O'Brien