Corporate Responsibility — Ending the Extraction Era

Before 1982, stock buybacks were largely prohibited as market manipulation. The SEC's Rule 10b-18 effectively legalized them. S&P 500 companies spent $7.37 trillion on buybacks over the past decade, with a record $942.5 billion in 2024 alone. Apple alone has spent $735 billion buying back its own stock — money that did not go to worker wages, R&D, or community investment. Between 2003 and 2012, S&P 500 companies distributed 91% of earnings to buybacks and dividends, leaving only 9% for productive reinvestment.

CEO pay has grown 1,094% since 1978 while worker pay grew just 26%. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio reached 281:1 in 2024, compared to 21:1 in 1965. Executive compensation is now predominantly stock-based — creating a direct financial incentive to prioritize share price over every other measure of corporate health. When buybacks inflate stock prices, executives profit personally. The quarterly earnings culture systematically destroys long-term investment incentives.

Products are engineered to fail. Software-dependent devices lose support within three to four years. Warranties are designed to expire just before failure. 33% of grocery items have been shrunk while prices held steady — shrinkflation that transfers value from consumers to shareholders invisibly. Corporate markups grew from 18% above cost in 1980 to 67% in 2016. Profits drove 40–53% of inflation in 2021–23, compared to the historical norm of 11%.

The CFPB — which returned $21 billion to over 200 million consumers, collected $5 billion in civil penalties, and took 350+ enforcement actions — was born hobbled by the financial industry's lobbying: the auto dealer exemption, the $10 billion asset threshold, the FSOC veto, and a single-director structure. Despite these handicaps, it worked. Yet 22+ enforcement cases were dropped by the Trump administration, representing $3B+ in unaddressed consumer harm. Manufacturing's share of GDP fell from 28% in the 1950s to 9.7% in 2025.

For workers and communities, codetermination gives labor the institutional voice that collective bargaining alone cannot provide. Workers elect half the board at large companies; profit-sharing mandates direct 10%+ of earnings to non-executives annually. Works councils gain binding veto over layoffs, working hours, and major changes. The 12-month plant closure notice gives communities time to adjust instead of devastating overnight disappearance. Germany maintained zero net job loss through the 2009 financial crisis — the only G7 country to do so — because worker voice in governance created incentives to preserve jobs rather than extract value.

For investors and long-term value creation, progressive capital gains taxation and the elimination of buyback incentives mean long-term investors consistently outpace short-term speculators. The 10% rate on 10+ year holdings rewards patient capital. The 40% rate on holdings under 1 year eliminates the advantage of speculation over ownership. Companies can reinvest in R&D, worker training, and manufacturing capacity instead of extracting cash through buybacks. Manufacturing's share of GDP — currently 9.7%, down from 28% in the 1950s — begins recovery as production-focused companies compete on long-term value instead of stock price inflation.

For consumers and product quality, the Federal Right to Repair Act and Repairability Index mean products designed to last. No planned obsolescence. No warranty-expiration-equals-failure engineering. Shrinkflation disclosure forces companies to choose between price increases (transparent) or product reduction (disclosed). The CFPB's expanded authority — covering Big Tech financial products, algorithmic lending, medical debt — reaches the sources of financial abuse that hobbled the agency before. CFPB expanded to $600M+ annual budget means 350+ enforcement actions becomes 3,500+ enforcement actions.

For the public purse, the buyback excise tax alone generates $100B+/year — more than enough to fund community transition programs, CFPB expansion, and debt reduction without taxing workers or the middle class. Greedflation fines, executive compensation deductibility caps, and investor accountability mechanisms add another $35–60B/year. Together, these reforms redirect extraction back toward productive investment, community resilience, and public goods. Corporations that invest in workers, communities, and long-term value are stronger, more resilient, and more profitable — we redesign the incentives so that doing right and doing well are the same thing.