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Earl Camembert's avatar

After Taibbi's work at Rolling Stone, I personally am stunned that I'm reading him, and Jeff, I wonder if you are stunned you're reading him, too. Strange times make for strange bedfellows. (Though Taibbi is a great writer, has a slashing wit, and calls out idiocy when he sees it.)

However, I too thought his article's focus on stock buybacks made little sense in relation to the hollowing out of the middle class (and let's be frank, we're talking about the hollowing out of lower middle management and skilled industrial - not trade - workers). Offshoring makes more logical sense as the key factor.

Not sure if your UofC profs mentioned this as another reason for stock buybacks: to get excess cash out of the hands of management, who otherwise would be tempted to make poor investments/acquisitions/"empire build." Forgot who taught me that at GSB (dating myself with that), but it was the sort of cynically realistic viewpoint of agency issues that make a lot of sense.

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Platinum Goose's avatar

Kind of funny that they complain about CEO salaries but not a peep when it comes to athletes and hollywood salaries. Be interesting to see what effect Mary Barra's salary has on the cost of a vehicle that you will own for a number of years. Then compare that to the cost of a night out at the movies or a sporting event and see how the salaries of the athlete or actress affect the cost of that.

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