9.
THE TRAP OF SHARE BUYBACKS
Share buybacks have become a kind of corporate cocaine that induces a temporary feeling of invincibility but masks weakness and vacuity.
—THE ECONOMIST1
In 1787, Empress Catherine II of Russia made an unprecedented six-month trip to Crimea, the “New Russia,” with her court and some foreign ambassadors. The area had been devastated by war. Amid fears of new hostilities, the purpose of the trip was to impress on Russia’s allies how prosperous the region had become after rebuilding the region and bringing in Russian settlers.
The Empress was accompanied on the trip by the official who had been responsible for rebuilding the region and bringing in Russian settlers. The official, Grigory Potemkin, happily combined this ...
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