Another leg of stimulus could potentially come from Corporate America. Companies can (and should) help the economy by putting their ample cash reserves to work.
Companies have a lot of cash, and many of them are starting to realize that they can put it to work for better use than simply rewarding shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends: They can support their workers and other Americans too.
If that is used to help people struggling from the coronavirus outbreak (i.e. employees, rather than investors), then that could go a long way toward keeping the US economy afloat in the midst of the pandemic.
“It’s unprecedented. So Corporate America stimulus makes sense on a case-by-case basis,” said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist with Brown Brothers Harriman.
Companies (like Apple) that still have a lot of cash sitting overseas should easily be able to bring much of that money back to the United States following tax law changes in 2017 that lowered the tax rate for repatriating offshore assets.
And Facebook said it is working closely with vendors to make sure its employees stay safe and healthy.
“Facebook will pay contingent workers that cannot work due to reduced staffing requirements while working from home, when we close an office, when we choose to send an employee home or when they are sick,” said Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison in a statement to CNN Business.
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Oracle were not immediately available for comment. But several of these companies have already been using their cash to help those in need.
It’s a start, but Corporate America probably should — and hopefully will — do even more.
Source : Nbcnewyork
