07-17-2017, 01:56 AM
Quote:Up until the 1980s, investment by the US corporate sector averaged 4% of GDP while dividends averaged 2% of GDP. Today, it is the other way around. Distributed profits used to average 35-45% of total US corporate profits in the 1950s, which is why there was plenty left over to invest in growing the business. Yet for the past few decades, the trend has been unmistakable: less money for investment, more set aside for dividends. In the UK, 2017 is expected to be a record year after analysis by Capita showed that shareholders grabbed north of £33bn in the second quarter.Governments have to invest in the fourth industrial revolution | Larry Elliott | Business | The Guardian