There are some tax and option-price related differences between dividends and buybacks in normal times, but for most of the current discussions those difference

There are some tax and option-price related differences between dividends and buybacks in normal times, but for most of the current discussions those differences are irrelevant. I agree that some of these recent stories about evil buybacks feels like fabricated outrage. For requesting state aid, buybacks are largely the same as dividends: if you need public support, you should definitely not do buybacks after that, just as you should pay dividends. Whether you believe they shouldn't have done buybacks in the past, ever, should not be much different than whether they should have paid out dividends in the past. Higher level, it's about what kind of equity buffers companies should retain in normal times.