Mwereyl183bFeb 12, 2023
Robert Reich

In the first month of 2023, stock buybacks hit $132 billion — the highest total ever to start a year.

Instead of using their profits to raise worker pay or invest in job growth, corporations often use them to pad the pockets of wealthy execs and shareholders.

Feb 12, 2023 at 8:18pmWeb
Show threadMade In CanadaFeb 12, 2023
@rbreich
I'm still waiting for that "Trickle down" effect, it's been 40 so years and not one cent
Show threadDanSFeb 12, 2023

@rbreich Would there be a way to tax any significant financial action progressively, based on the amount of wealth inequality it creates?

We would need something akin to an advanced sports metric (think Inequality Above Norm as a numerical value, like Wins Above Replacement in baseball). Any stock buyback, corporate merger, massive layoff, predatory interest rate profit, etc. could be plugged into the formula and taxed accordingly.

The more inequality produced, the higher the tax, so as to render certain actions no longer worth it. If a financial action increases equality it would receive a tax credit.

Show threadNik PFeb 12, 2023
@rbreich we’re heading toward a post capitalist dystopia.
Show threadSwiss Chalet SommelierFeb 12, 2023
Funnelling the proceeds of wage theft and profit gouging to shareholders as The Benevolent Market dictates
Show threadMarcusCSCFeb 12, 2023
@rbreich what I would be interesting to find out if the tranches bought back included the allotments of stick owned by the CEO?
Show threadMugsysRapSheet Blog ☑️Feb 12, 2023

@rbreich Remember in 2000 when candidate GW Bush declared that "If there's a Surplus, it means your taxes are too high! That's not THEIR money! It's YOUR money!" 🤔

Ditto for exploding corporate profits. They can afford to cut their prices amid record #Inflation. 🤬 #WindfallProfitsTaxNOW

Show threadDennis WalkerFeb 12, 2023
@rbreich 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Show threadKarl AuerbachFeb 12, 2023

@rbreich I have always wondered - could a corporation buy back all if its stock and thus own itself?

(Or better - two corporations each buy the controlling [or all] of the shares of the other. Who/what owns what?]

Show threadLot⁴⁹Feb 12, 2023
@rbreich It's funny--in fact it's downright hilarious--that the SEC didn't allow stock buybacks until 1982, because they were considered market manipulation. That seems right.
Show threadTanziersFeb 12, 2023
@rbreich If. They don’t stop. There will be a revolution. And it’s not going to be regular folks against each other.
Show threadJoeChipFeb 13, 2023
@rbreich
It's called looting.
Show threadMike 🚲 🚌 MPLS, Mn USAFeb 13, 2023
@rbreich literally every pension and 401k benefits from stock buybacks. It's a more tax efficient way to reward investors than dividends, but is essentially the same thing.