Observers of the US political scene complain about a dearth of leadership. The same is also true of the corporate world. Just as politicians are mesmerised by polls, chief executives are enslaved to the share price. Today’s US bull market is sustained by one key ingredient: the share buyback. Profit margins are falling. Investment opportunities are apparently lacking. All that remains is to shrink the number of shares. America’s buyback boom may not be a crisis of capitalism. But it is a warning sign. When companies put their chips on financial engineering they are betting against the future.
美國政壇的觀察家抱怨美國政界缺乏領導力。美國商界也同樣如此。就如政治人士過分關注民意調查結果，企業的首席執行官們已變成了股價的奴隸。維持當前美國牛市的一個關鍵要素是股票回購。利潤率正在下滑。投資機會顯然不足。剩下的只有縮減股票的數量了。美國的股票回購熱潮或許不是一場資本主義危機。但這股熱潮是一個警告信號。當企業把籌碼押注在金融工程上的時候，它們就像是在與未來對賭。