Who is the Other?

A Zen master once asked his students the question, “Who is the other?”

As I have studied investment questions, I am beginning to come to the somewhat Buddhistic understanding that on at least on some level, criticism directed at our perceived enemy is often self criticism. To understand a problem or the actions of “the other,” I only need to look into a mirror.

This morning I read a politically charged column denouncing Pfizer for planning to use some of the additional profits excepted from the recent changes in the tax law for share buy-backs and an increase in the dividend, rather than using all of it to hire additional employees. The author also seemed annoyed the Pfizer was shifting its research budget away from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to other areas. It was clear that the author was convinced that nothing but bad behavior could come from cutting the corporate tax rate, as leaving more money in corporate coffers simply gave bad people an additional opportunity to engage in wicked antisocial behavior.

Institutions own about 70% of Pfizer shares. That means if you are the beneficiary of a pension fund, or expect to become the beneficiary of a pension fund there is close to a 100% chance you own shares in Pfizer. If you own shares in a well-diversified, managed mutual fund there is close to a 100% chance you own Pfizer. If you own shares in an index fund that invests in large-cap American companies, there is a 100% chance you own shares in Pfizer.

As an individual share holder, the prudent manager of a pension fund, or a computer program that buys and sells shares of stock in order to maintain a desired model portfolio you are interested in having corporate managers who act with your interest in their hearts and minds. Currently Pfizer holds a AA credit rating while paying a 3.75% dividend. Compare this to a ten-year treasury note paying 2.5% with no possibility of capital gains, remembering that U.S. debt was downgraded to AA+ back in 2011. If you voted for Obama, or for that matter Bush in 2004, you share in responsibility for the creation of over $10 trillion in new money, out of thin air, by an increase in our national debt.

That money had to go somewhere.

In the current regulatory environment, financial engineering is often more profitable than actually producing real wealth in the material world, with products such as new drugs to combat Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. I suspect that Pfizer had no experimental Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s drugs in its R&D pipeline that merited the further investment of either time or money, given that they are guaranteed a 3.75% return by simply buying shares in their own company. It also wouldn’t surprise me to hear one of Pfizer’s competitors proudly announce a major breakthrough in one of these areas sometime in the near future. Companies, as well as nation states, have been known to engage in espionage.

When it comes to the economy, we are all in this together. Every decision, every action, or reaction by everyone in the world contributes to the constantly changing ebb and flow of money. As we all try to pursue what we understand to be our rational self interest, buying, selling, working, contributing, or even engaging in criminal enterprises, the actions of everyone effect—everyone. Unless you are a hermit living in a treehouse somewhere completely off the grid, you are a part of that nonduality we call choose to call the economy.

As I believe that money is a spiritual commodity, I also believe that our individual actions, our use of our money and our time will have, if you will allow me to use the term, karmic consequences not only in this world, but in the world to come. I would like to suggest that the author of the article, look deeply into his own heart, before criticizing the actions of a company with a much better than average record of socially desirable behavior.