How American CEOs got so rich

For a long time, it was off-limits for a corporation to buy back its own stock. Not anymore.

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American companies today spend billions on stock buybacks. So what does that mean for the US economy? And how did it help make American CEOs so unbelievably rich?

To learn more about stock buybacks, General Motors, and the Lordstown GM plant, check out the following sources:

William Lazonick, Harvard Business Review: Profits Without Prosperity (https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity)

Irina Lendel, Melissa Piazza, Matthew Ellerbrock, Cleveland State University: Lordstown GM Plant Closure Economic Impact Study (https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2594&context=urban_facpub)

Emily Stewart, Vox: Walmart is paying $20 billion to shareholders. With that money, it could boost hourly wages to over $15. (https://www.vox.com/business-and-finance/2018/5/25/17379730/walmart-stock-buyback-worker-wages)

Jane G. Gravelle and Donald J. Marples, Congressional Research Service: The Economic Effects of the 2017 Tax Revision: Preliminary Observations (https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20190522_R45736_8a1214e903ee2b719e00731791d60f26d75d35f4.pdf)

Stephen Mihm, Bloomberg: How Stock Buybacks Ambled Into Stardom (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-24/stock-buyback-history-is-a-mess)

Lawrence Mishel and Julia Wolfe, Economic Policy Institute: CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978 (https://www.epi.org/files/pdf/171191.pdf)(Economic Policy Institute)

Irina Ivanova, CBS: GM bought back $10 billion in stock since 2015, double what job cuts will save (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gm-bought-back-10-billion-in-stock-since-2015-double-what-job-cuts-will-save/)

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