The Schumer-Sanders "Buyback Ban" Is a Terrible Idea - Do This Instead

Last week, senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) co-authored an opinion piece in The New York Times titled: "Limit Corporate Buybacks: Corporate self-indulgence has become an enormous problem for workers and for the long-term strength of the economy."

The senators said, "From the mid-20th century until the 1970s, American corporations shared a belief that they had a duty not only to their shareholders but to their workers, their communities, and the country."

I have to say the senators are right: Buybacks should be limited. They benefit too few people, who already have the advantage.

But the senators are dead wrong about buybacks' impact on workers and the wider economy.

That a bunch of D.C. insiders are wrong isn't news at all. But in this case, I'll show you the senators' prescription for fixing the problem is disingenuous at best, and a command-economy disaster at worst.

The good news is, the problem of buybacks is very fixable.