1. On average American businesses spent one trillion dollars/year on stock buy-backs. A huge record number. A few decades ago, ANY stock buy-backs were illegal.
2. Stock buy-backs are funded from corporate profits. They have so much profit, they don’t know what to do with it, so they buy their stock. Why not fund employee pension funds instead?
3. Instead of egregious levels of excess profits, workers should be getting higher wages/benefit packages and/or lower prices for consumers.
4. Realize that stock buy-backs are a tool of the rich to avoid taxes. Stockholders pay no taxes on their stock portfolio until they sell but would pay an income tax on dividends they receive. This is why corporations are buying back their stock instead of paying dividends; It benefits the rich who mostly own stocks.
5. Stock buy-backs should be illegal again. Instead of excess profits, force corporations to pay higher wages to their employees or fund a robust pension package or lower the price of their product/service to consumers which benefits the working-class.