While Lobbying For Huge Tax Giveaways, Corporations Hoard Record Amounts Of Cash Instead Of Hiring

[Donnachaidh]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/19/322140/corporations-record-cash/

American corporations are holding more cash on their balance sheets than at any time in nearly a half century, as they continue to save instead of investing or hiring workers, according to a Federal Reserve report released Friday. At the same time, Republican presidential candidates and corporate leaders continue to lobby for lower corporate tax rates and huge corporate tax giveaways under the guise that they will lead to higher rates of job creation.

According to the report, non-financial corporations held more than $2 trillion in cash at the end of June, a $88 billion jump since the end of March. Cash holdings made up 7.1 percent of all company assets, the highest level since 1963.

And the report doesn’t even include foreign cash holdings, though 11 companies — including Apple, Microsoft, and Cisco — have foreign cash holdings of at least $10 billion. Those funds, the corporations argue, could be used to spur hiring and job growth domestically through tax breaks like a repatriation tax holiday, as one executive told the Wall Street Journal:

But Jeff Agosta, chief financial officer of Devon Energy Corp., said that whatever companies use the money for—such as investments, dividend payments or stock buybacks—the U.S. would benefit by having the funds come home.

“That’s money that’s going to be put into productive use in the United States,” Mr. Agosta said.

More at the link --

[highplainsdem]

1. K&R

[Pab Sungenis]

2. Use it or lose it.

That simple.