PeterLudemann

@[email protected]

Retired from software {Google, Yahoo, start-ups, IBM, BNR}; sometime bicyclist, sailor, & non-gardener; easily amused by PL design and type inferencing.
Los Altos, California (previously Tokyo, Osaka, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria, Vancouver)

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rbreich , to Random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Stock buybacks don't just line the pockets of CEOs and shareholders — they're dangerous.

Boeing failed to implement a $7B redesign of its 737 Max while spending that much per year on buybacks.

A dollar spent on buybacks is a dollar less spent to upgrade equipment and safety.

PeterLudemann ,

@rbreich
And a dollar spent on dividends is also a dollar less to spend to upgrade equipment and safety.

The problem isn't buybacks (or dividends); it's management's priorities. But that isn't as snappy as a sound bite.

rbreich , to Random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Stock buybacks are lethal, literally https://robertreich.substack.com/p/stock-buybacks-are-lethal-literally?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

PeterLudemann ,

@rbreich
If Boeing hadn't spent $7billion on stock buybacks but instead had paid out $7billion in dividends, would the results have been any different?
Buybacks are a way of increasing the return to investors (not just the CEO) by increasing the price of shares), and dividends are theoretically taxed at about the same rate as capital gains.

The problem seems to be profits over safety and product quality rather than buybacks themselves.

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