While business editors seem obsessed with reports that Blackstone Group may take public its management company, it's a distraction from what I think is a far more important story -- the economic impact of tighter mortgage markets and slumping home prices.

Last Friday the Blackstone IPO story caused me some personal annoyance. I was on my way to a CNBC studio to comment on subprime investment opportunities when I got a cell phone call from the producer. She announced that my segment was being canceled and replaced with David Faber talking about the Blackstone IPO.

Eight rich guys get richer, yawn! The real story was that Faber needed to promote his scoop on the deal -- which might be partially inaccurate. Faber reported that Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) was working on a Blackstone prospectus but there's a rumor that Goldman denies involvement.

I think the announcement reflects four parallel trends:

Even though private equity firms have been around since the 1970s, there haven't been any IPOs of these outfits -- at least not until recently. In fact, back in the late 1980s, private equity was red hot . Yet, there were still no IPOs.

But, the recent IPO of Fortress Group (NYSE:FIG) has changed everything. There is no doubt that the public markets have a big appetite for these kinds of issues. The big question: Is this really a sign of selling at the top?

That's the tone in a front page article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal regarding the anticipated IPO of Blackstone [the WSJ is a paid service]. Keep in mind that the most successful private equity operators have a pretty good sense for timing. That's why they make the big bucks. Then again, there is still lots of momentum in private equity -- and tons of money coming into funds. This should continue to for awhile.

The interesting thing is that a credit crunch would be a good thing for a Blackstone IPO. It will have billions of its own capital to finance its deals -- and could even use its stock. This would certainly give the firm a big competitive advantage.

So, it's no wonder that Blackstone is spending 24/7 to get this deal done.

Updates on the Blackstone IPO:

• March 22, 2007: Blackstone files for IPO
• March 22, 2007: But CEO called public markets 'overrated'?
• May 16, 2007: AFL-CIO objects to Blackstone IPO
• June 13, 2007: Should you invest in Blackstone IPO?
• June 19, 2007: Blackstone IPO prices Thursday, June 20; offered to public Friday, June 21
  
• June 21, 2007: Blackstone IPO no good for private investors
• June 21, 2007: Blackstone IPO priced at $31/share, sets BX value at $33.6 billion
• June 22, 2007: Blackstone opens 18% higher in NYSE debut
  

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.