In the last 30 years, the number of public companies has been cut in half

Article

• Washington Post opinion piece (linked via tweet) on shrinking public markets
• US public company count roughly halved over ~30 years
• Underlying article argues lawyers/compliance costs drove the decline

Discussion

• Sarbanes-Oxley (2002) and rise of private capital markets cited as key drivers
• Commenters note consolidation: most industries now 2–5 giants with same shareholders
• Frustration that the tweet links to a WaPo paywalled piece with no direct link
• Alternative view: Reg CF/Reg A/crypto expanded semi-public options in parallel

Discuss on HN