Going Direct (BlackRock)
Idea
In 2019, BlackRock published a plan for central banks to bypass the banking system and inject money directly into the economy; months later, when COVID hit, the Federal Reserve hired BlackRock to run a bond-buying program based on that exact framework — and BlackRock bought its own products with public money. The project treats this as the template for institutional capture: design the policy, get hired to implement it, profit from the implementation.
The engine's definition — word for word
BlackRock's 2019 Jackson Hole paper, authored by former central bankers on BlackRock's payroll, proposed 'going direct' — having central banks bypass the banking system entirely and inject money directly into the economy through fiscal-monetary fusion. When COVID hit months later, the Federal Reserve hired BlackRock to execute a bond-buying program based on this exact framework. BlackRock then purchased its own products with public money. The arsonist-firefighter at sovereign scale. The engine treats Going Direct as the template for institutional capture: design the policy, get hired to implement it, profit from the implementation. The Mar 2026 401(k) private assets rule extends this pattern — channeling retirement savings through Aladdin-managed infrastructure.
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