It's bonkers to me that some people have billions while I often go hungry purely due to lack of money. Why can't people see how unnatural this is? Has anyone read the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel? It's about cavepeople, but it's such a prime example of how society should be. No-one owns land, everyone is free to hunt and forage as they see fit. The only things people own are basic things like their clothes and arts and crafts that they make and trade with each other. It would be crazy to them if someone said "This land is now mine, you must pay me 50% of all your arts and crafts if you want to live here, pick the plants here or hunt the animals that live here." And yet, somehow the course of human history has led us to a place where a few have more money than they can spend in a lifetime, while millions starve. Why are we standing for this?
US News
News from within the empire - From a leftist perspective
Are they even using all of their money? Can't we have some if it's not in use?
Here is my uninformed take.
Buffet selling Apple, the #1 share buyback company, tells me that they're expecting western companies to stop engaging on share buybacks ( using their business profits to buy shares and thus inflate stock prices, rewarding shareholders ), and start using their profits to reinvest in production. Tariffs are not going to save them from Chinese companies, the US market, while being huge, is no longer the only relevant one, the world has changed.
I think investment funds are betting ( or more likely, have insider information ) on western companies to acknowledge the current world context, and start dropping their neoliberal paradigm since this is a do or die moment for them.
I suspect another reason could be that they want to have cash on hand to buy things up when the crash happens. Every time there's a crash we see a massive wealth transfer to the top, and billionaires are positioning too take advantage of the one that's unfolding.
This is my suspicion as well since that's how Buffet operated in 2008
Yup, he's getting ready for the Black Friday for billionaires.
on western companies to acknowledge the current world context, and start dropping their neoliberal paradigm since this is a do or die moment for them.
Western companies abandoning neoliberalism 
To ideologically align with the fascists in power 
Trump is a neolib too, he makes it pretty clear when talking about trade imbalances.
That's actually a good example of why he's not a neolib. Neoliberals see trade imbalances as a neutral or even a good thing.
no, negative cash flows are a bad thing for the neoliberal lense since they reduce everything to cash flows, everything else doesn't matter. a neolib would think they're losing when they have a negative trade balance with X country because they ignore that they're receiving a material commodity for that trade. Same applies for budget deficit, that's why they always push to reduce goverment spending.
trump always says that china is beating them because their comically lopsided trade balance, forgetting that they're getting a shit ton of commodities in return, which is a pretty clear sign that he is, knowingly or unknowingly, a neoliberal.
That's not what neoliberalism is. Neoliberalism is the ideology that promotes free markets and globalization. Trade deficits are an inherent part of the neoliberal order. The dollar flows out of the US, while the wealth and resources of the global south flow into the US. That's the trade defecit, and neoliberals have no problem with it. Neoliberals are the ones who did NAFTA and the other free trade agreements that more or less necessitate a trade deficit
Yeah, no. The western companies cannot reinvest like that. They are beholden to increase their share value above all else. It's actually US law they have to do this. The companies obligations are to the shareholders. The oligarchy knows a crash is coming. They've spent the years since COVID to get their affairs in order and have been kicking the can with the Federal reserves. That's why all the big banks and hedge funds have been buying up all the land they can. It's the most necessary physical asset to own in a failing economy.
Will this happen before or after Trump is in office? I feel like if the capitalists initiate the collapse during Biden's admin, they could get away with a lot more stuff under Trump.
They could also be changing stocks into cash simply because they expect higher interest rates for it under Trump.
Seems pretty likely that it'll happen within the next 4 years.
While?
sorry, what is a higher interest rate mean? isn't that a good thing to have a higher interest? so you can get more money from your stock investment?
should i uh, take my life savings out of the stocks?
Depends, it's certainly a good thing if you're a bond holder, you're getting more returns for your money. But its a bad thing for everyone else, higher interest rates means higher mortgages, car loans, credit card debt, student loans, business loans, etc...
so....it's time to get some cash to avoid those dirty deeds?
It's time to get their cash so the can buy up all the assets after the economy crashes. The oligarchy has been preparing their assets for some time. Using the federal reserves to pump the market till their affairs are in order.
im so glad we just bought a house hahaha hah lol