A Peter Linebaugh piece on the Magna Carta auction appeared on Counterpunch a few days ago (http://www.counterpunch.org/linebaugh12152007.html).  A columnist in yesterday's FT  promptly answered the historian's question, "Yet can liberty be bought or sold?"...

The news that David Rubenstein, co-founder of the private equity firm Carlyle, has bought a rare copy of the Magna Carta raises some concerns for the future.

As money expands, society contracts. In the UK the unholy trinity of Private Finance Initiatives, Private Equity and Pensions embodies this logic, turning jobs, services and infrastructure into factories for finance capital. Rob Ray explains how the 3 P's interact to pile up corporate fortunes and devolve risk on to the rest of us