Process
Status Items Highlights Done See section below Claims None Questions None Output None
Highlights
id895297490
Federal Reserve study notes that ever-higher prices have coincided with a sudden increase in corporate profit-taking. Those profit increases are fueled by a quest for dividend payouts to company shareholders, rather than for resources to reinvest in companies
id895297436
76 percent of the growth in corporate profits earned by domestic nonfinancial industries was driven by an increase in the dividends rewarding shareholders” — and just 15 percent of the excess cash was devoted to “invest(ing) in longer-term investment projects.”
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In 2024, corporations paid a record 651 billion from US-based companies. Dividend payments more than doubled in the last sixteen years, prompted by the 2003 George W. Bush tax cuts on dividends, which mostly rewarded superrich shareholders rather than encouraging companies to reinvest. A recent example: Stellantis laid off 900 autoworkers, then announced a $2.2 billion dividend payout.