What will corporations and the rich do if they receive a windfall of tax cuts from our Republican-controlled Congress?
We've seen reports that most companies intend to automate production (replace humans), buy back their own stocks, or pay out more dividends. We've seen reports that investors are betting on automation. We've also seen reports that investors are already buying up stocks in anticipation that the largest corporations will buy them back at higher prices after tax cuts are passed.
We've seen very little mention of any corporations that intend to invest heavily in their own businesses beyond their current capacity and that was apparent at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council this morning where chief White House economic adviser Gary Cohn did not receive the response he was expecting.
VIDEO: CEOs asked if they plan to increase their company's capital investments if the GOP's tax bill passes.
A few hands go up.
"Why aren't the other hands up?" Gary Cohn asks.#WSJCEOCouncil pic.twitter.com/TD2oAlN27S— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) November 14, 2017
I was just as amused as Cohn is, but for very different reasons.
It may be underappreciated that Republicans are making big predictions about corporate investments and the economy that corporations are not making. Corporations are not even pretending.
Corporations are more accountable to their own shareholders than elected Republicans are to the American public and investors want what they want; they want dividends. I don't know how this could possibly be more clear.