“How much might workers have benefited if companies had devoted their financial resources to them rather than to shareholders? Lowe’s, CVS, and Home Depot could have provided each of their workers a raise of $18,000 a year, the report found. Starbucks could have given each of its employees $7,000 a year, and McDonald’s could have given $4,000 to each of its nearly 2 million employees.” Corporations are making massive profits and realizing huge stock price gains. Yet, millions of workers are still waiting for their flatlined wages to see a blip. What gives? Part of the answer is related to (once illegal) stock buyback programs. In The Atlantic, Annie Lowrey does a good job providing an overview of a problem that’s only getting worse. Stock buybacks are eating the world. (And employees are lucky if they get the scraps…)

+ This has been an issue for some time. But things are accelerating. From Politico: “Some of the biggest winners from President Donald Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares.”

+ Vox: One chart that shows how much worse income inequality is in America than Europe.

+ NYT: Trump administration mulls a unilateral tax cut for the rich.