Oh, so the idea is that buying back stock is effectively just transferring money to investors? I guess that explains why I was confused by the parent comment.

Oh, so the idea is that buying back stock is effectively just transferring money to investors? I guess that explains why I was confused by the parent comment. I still do believe that giving money directly to social/governmental programs is more effective then giving it to the ultra-rich who may or may not have an incentive to spend it in a way that aligns with the country's interests, but that's a topic for another day.