On 17 October 2013 09:23, Anne & Lynn Wheeler <l...@garlic.com> wrote: > > Stockman in "The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in > America" pg464/loc9995-10000: > > IBM was not the born-again growth machine trumpeted by the mob of Wall > Street momo traders. It was actually a stock buyback contraption on > steroids. During the five years ending in fiscal 2011, the company > spent a staggering $67 billion repurchasing its own shares, a figure > that was equal to 100 percent of its net income.
Another more general book on much the same topic is _Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL_, by Roger L. Martin. The slightly unfortunate title suggests some sort of rah rah book, but his thesis is quite pointed: There are two games going on in the NFL - playing football, and betting on football games. In the business world, there are also two games: the Real Market of making and selling goods and services, and the Expectations Market of betting on the stock price of the firms in question. With respect to the NFL, everyone understands this, and the rules are quite strict; anyone from player to coach to league official who gets involved at all with the betting game faces severe sanctions, not uncommonly expulsion from the entire business. In the corporate world, however, not only are there no sanctions, but senior executives are positively encouraged to be involved in the Expectations Market because much of their compensation is stock-based, all in the name of "aligning their interests with those of shareholders". There are other and better reviews out there, but I do recommend the book. Certainly IBM is a prime example of what's gone wrong with American capitalism. Tony H. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
