The private equity takeover of the U.S. economy has gone largely unnoticed. Since the 2008 financial crisis, private equity firms have gone from managing $1 trillion to managing $4.3 trillion — more than the value of Germany’s gross domestic product. And private equity is now in every corner of the economy: Blackstone is America’s largest landlord of rental houses. Fortress Investment Group is the nation’s largest bill collector. And private equity now runs all sorts of services that used to be under public control – including emergency services we all depend on.

But private equity isn’t accountable – not to the public, not even to public shareholders. It’s run by a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people who are getting richer and more powerful all the time. Today’s New York Times provides an important look.