But stock buybacks make share prices go up while decreasing the value of the company. Google was $70 billion poorer after its buyback program—nevertheless, its share price rose by 13 percent within hours of the announcement. To be clear, that announcement didn’t include any information to indicate that Google had found a way to make more money: Google hadn’t found more customers or discovered a way to charge its existing customers more. It hadn’t invented any new technology or launched any products. Instead, Google had removed $70 billion from its balance sheet, depriving itself of $70 billion
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Distorted economics: could go up or down?
