Conservatives love it when corporations make money. They love it even more when it\u2019s a result of lower taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They rationalize lower corporate taxes by claiming that it will lead to more jobs and indirectly to more government revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Except that\u2019s just a myth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
For example, a 2017 study<\/a> looked at the payroll changes at 92 publicly held U.S. corporations that posted profits every year from 2008 through 2015 and paid less than 20% of these earnings in federal income tax, which is less than the top 35% tax rate which is typically the target of tax cut supporters. What they found was that more than half of these companies actually shed jobs during the period, despite the overall economy boosting payrolls by 6%. Of the 92 companies studied, the median change in payrolls was -1%. Many of these companies used their increased profit to buy back stock, helping to boost the price of their company’s shares. Of those who cut jobs, the top 10 each spent $45 billion in stock buybacks over the 2008\u20132015 period, 6 times that of the S&P 500 corporate average. As well, CEO pay among these companies rose 18% during the period, compared with a 13% increase among S&P 500 CEOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n