Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer Stock Buybacks and the Trillion Dollar Heist (with Senator Cory Booker)
Nov 4, 2025
Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey U.S. Senator and former Newark mayor, dives into the controversial world of stock buybacks, revealing their role in exacerbating economic inequality. He discusses how these corporate strategies shift focus from long-term investments to short-term profits, harming workers along the way. Booker introduces the Workers' Dividend Act, aiming to ensure that employees share in buyback gains. He also addresses the political challenges of reforming corporate practices while advocating for broader policies to rebalance the economy.
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Buybacks Concentrate Wealth Upward
- Stock buybacks primarily transfer wealth from workers to top shareholders and CEOs by inflating stock prices.
- This mechanism reduces funds available for wages, investment, and community spending, worsening inequality.
Regulatory Shift Created Short-Termism
- Buybacks were illegal before the 1980s and became common after rule changes that encouraged short-term stock-price focus.
- Corporations now favor buybacks over retained earnings, starving investment in workers and R&D.
American Airlines Paid Workers, Wall Street Panned It
- Cory Booker recounts American Airlines' decision to raise pay and Wall Street's hostile response calling it "labor is being paid first again."
- Analysts downgraded the stock and castigated paying workers over shareholder returns.
