Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz believes stock buybacks should be banned
“It is more important to set the right incentives for companies. So far, for example, it has been very attractive for US companies to buy their own shares because it is more tax-efficient than paying dividends. The buybacks are also attractive because they increase the remuneration of top managers, which is often linked to the share price. There is now a legislative initiative in the Senate to ban stock buybacks or at least tax them more heavily. That would be good. Even better would be to ban stock buybacks altogether. They are fatal.”
– US Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz in “A trauma for the world economy” – The US Nobel laureate sees the corona crisis as a turning point that could fundamentally change capitalism and prevent President Donald Trump from serving a second term, Handelsblatt, May 6, 2020, No. 87