Nitpick: > Dividends and buybacks are what you do with profits. Retained earnings are a thing, and they are not automatically accounted for as investments. I

Nitpick: > Dividends and buybacks are what you do with profits. Retained earnings are a thing, and they are not automatically accounted for as investments. In practice, growing a cash hoard might conceivably be better for an individual firm, allowing it to make new types of investments or add stability across the business cycle. In practice, I think most of the capital returns people get all upset about are coming from companies that have gargantuan cash hoards. Wishing those companies would expand their investment and hiring is nice and all, but that’s all it is. A wish.