> This is true of financial companies too. For example, banks that are run to survive rare events like global pandemic or world war cannot compete with banks th

> This is true of financial companies too. For example, banks that are run to survive rare events like global pandemic or world war cannot compete with banks that ignore the possibility of such events during normal times. The opposite can't be allowed to continue. Spending heaps on stock buybacks to then months later be completely out of cash. > Take McDonald’s. With $21.1 billion in revenue last year, it ended 2019 with only $898.5 million in cash on its balance sheet, a little more than two weeks’ worth of sales. Considering that the fast-food chain, which owns more than 2,600 stores, franchises 36,000 more and employs 205,000 people, generated $5.7 billion in free cash flow last year, it could have as much cash as it wants. Instead, McDonalds’ bought back $4.9 billion worth of stock in 2019 and paid another $3.6 billion for its dividend, almost exactly the $3.24 billion the company borrowed last year. This is a joke. It borrowed 3.2 billion to pay a 3.6 billion dividend? And now it's CEO is meeting directly with the president to argue how enforcing paid sick time off due to coronavirus is a bad idea because it will hurt businesses too much. The system is so broken there are barely words. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/crash-shows-major-corporations-broke-no-1-personal-finance-rule.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/crash-shows-major-corporatio...