Buyout firms get a bad rap and there isn’t enough perception of the good that the private equity industry does, said Blackstone Chief Operating Officer Tony James on Tuesday.

“We had the dubious distinction of being like a public punching bag for a year — by politicians, by press, by just about everyone,” James said at a Lehman Brothers financial services conference. “And for better, for worse, I think people sometimes lose sight of what private equity actually does.”

Showing a slide titled “Private Equity is Good for Society,” James said private equity played a necessary role in modern capital markets and in creating jobs. In Blackstone’s case, that’s 42,000 new jobs in the last five years.

James said that public markets were great for companies with robust growth prospects and ones that meet their targets, but they can be “brutal” for those that fall behind.

Private equity, he said, can take companies whose stocks are “bashed down, bring them private, bring in a new management team — which is usually necessary — re-engineer the company, get it growing again, and when it emerges back in the public markets it will be a faster-growing company, fitting more comfortably into the public markets.”

That’s particularly important in tumultuous times such as now, he said, when people are casting about for big pockets, rescue financing and investors willing to take risks when no one else will.

“That’s when we shine,” James said.

For James’ other remarks about the buyout industry click here.