[boh]

Buybacks are a way for companies to let the market know they are no longer capable of making efficient use of capital, and so they give the money back to shareholders instead. The recent trend of buybacks within various industries presents a difficult argument against the efficacy of capitalism in general. It would seem companies no longer need tax cuts, can sustain higher minimum wages, have limited incentives to foster innovation through research and development, since buybacks have exceeded FCF since 2014. With the effectiveness of shareholders use of capital being fairly limited (something we were able to witness following the Trump administration's tax reforms), the only other viable option is to give a greater share to the government. If we're so concerned about Main Street pensioners and 401K shareholders when it comes to buybacks, then perhaps they'd prefer a fixed UBI paid by higher corporate taxes rather than be subject to the whims of the market (now especially). If that doesn't sound like a good idea, than maybe companies should do their job and actually spend the capital. As much as people argue against public entitlements, they seem to support the private entitlements fostered by buyback culture, if one doesn't seem productive, why does the other?