Bloomberg BNA: Understanding the Post-Tax Cuts Buybacks Surge: A Primer

But Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the anger over buybacks stems from the idea that, with the passage of the tax law (Pub. L. No. 115-97), Americans “were promised something else” by lawmakers and the administration. Real wage growth, he added, is “flat as a pancake.”

“They weren’t talking about buybacks—they were talking about increasing wages and investment,” Gardner said. “Undeniably, part of the reason we’re seeing no growth in real wages is because companies are doing other things with their money.” Read more