November 7, 2025 • 15 mins
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
Let’s talk about an uncomfortable truth: the U.S. hasn’t been a capitalist country in decades. Between stock buybacks, fake “free markets,” and a D.C. class that’s never signed the front of a paycheck, the system is rigged — and both parties are in on it.
In this episode:
-Why Congress killed real capitalism
-The scam behind corporate stock buybacks
-How elites turned “free market” into a dirty joke
-Why workers — not CEOs — should own the companies
-And what America could look like if Washington got out of the way
It’s not anti-capitalist to want a fair system. It’s anti-American to pretend we still have one.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
Let’s talk about an uncomfortable truth: the U.S. hasn’t been a capitalist country in decades. Between stock buybacks, fake “free markets,” and a D.C. class that’s never signed the front of a paycheck, the system is rigged — and both parties are in on it.
In this episode:
-Why Congress killed real capitalism
-The scam behind corporate stock buybacks
-How elites turned “free market” into a dirty joke
-Why workers — not CEOs — should own the companies
-And what America could look like if Washington got out of the way
It’s not anti-capitalist to want a fair system. It’s anti-American to pretend we still have one.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast, explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I got an idea. I've been saying this for some time.
Let's try socialism. Let's try let's try capitalism. We're capitalist country.
We're getting that. We're not. We haven't been a capitalist
country for a very long time. And next week I'm
going to actually even go back to the nineteen seventies.
(00:38):
So we're going to talk a little bit about the
gold standard and productivity and the financialization of the United States,
and we're going to get into that in great depth
next week. But I've been beating this drum for a
long time here on the program, talking about corporatism, crony
(00:59):
cap Oh yeah, crony capitalism is essentially socialism. We are
more socialist here in this country than we are capitalist.
That's just a fact. We do it through different means.
We do it through regulations, we do it through the
tax code. I've talked about this before here on the program,
(01:21):
years and years and years ago. I was talking about
the regulatory code and the tax code and how's you
know that's where all power lies in Washington, d C.
This is how they're able to raise money by writing regulations,
writing in loopholes, taxing companies, not taxing companies, how they
(01:42):
collect This reason why Washington, DC is the wealthiest place
in the country. It is the amount of money that
flows through there. Based upon this, I equated the tax
code in the regulatory code. I said, it's like the
yellow sun for Superman. Superman gets all his power Superman
because of our yellow sun. And well, this is where
(02:04):
Congress gets all his power. I remember talking about this.
We had Neil Boorts as well, one of my favorite
talk radio show hosts. I used to talk a lot
about having a national sales tax rather than an income tax,
and if we had that, we had that. And I
actually had this conversation with him. We were we were
(02:28):
doing radio row next to one another. This was at
the it was Denver. This is in Denver. This is
when Obama was being being knighted at that point in time.
But yeah, we had this radio I'm talking about this
and I said, you know, the reality is it'll never
happen because it takes all power away from Washington, d C.
(02:51):
If we had a national sales tax, fair tax, pay
at at the point of sale. Again, you couldn't hide,
you spend money, you know, you pay, you know, you
get all the people that cheat your drug all that stuff. Okay,
but again it won't happen because this is where all
their power lies. So why we don't run a capitalist
country that That hasn't been true for a very long time. Yeah. Sure,
(03:16):
you get pockets of it within local communities, but I
can break this down into everything. You know, you take
a look at the tariffs, and I've been talking about
that for some time. I mean, who benefits from this?
Does Nike really get hurt by tariffs? Or does Nike's
competitor really get hit by tariffs? He go right on
(03:38):
down the list. More people starting to jump on board.
In my bad Actually, I'm gonna Steve Bannon. I don't
agree with him on a lot of stuff. Again, he
was awful to the greatest governor I've ever seen, Okay,
in my lifetime, Ron DeSantis here in the state to Florida.
(04:00):
I mean, there's there's no comparison named a better governor
than Ron DeSantis and quite frankly, I'm being honest here.
He should be in the White House. Okay, yeah, Trump
wasn't my and I voted for him, but Trump wasn't
my choice this time around. It wasn't my choice back
in twenty sixteen. I never win, Okay, I'm I'm an
(04:24):
all time loser when it comes to the people. I
want for a present. I wanted Ron Paul, I wanted Ran.
I never win. Okay, So we got Trump. But Steve
Bannon again, I don't know, he's got this allegiance to Trump.
I don't know what's going on. But he actually echoed
finally what I've been saying here for not years, but decades.
(04:45):
These kids, he's talking about the young people that came
out to vote for Mandami. These kids don't hate capitalism.
They've never had a shot at it. They're at the
receiving end of corporatism, just like the Russian serfs before
(05:05):
the Bolsheviks. We need more capitalists. One way to give
them capital is not just better wages, that's income. Let's
get them a little buy into the financial structure of
the country. And he was talking about reallocation at the time.
And I'm not a I'm not a big believer in that.
(05:29):
But you know we talk about various different pay packages
that CEOs get. You know that people complain about this stuff.
You know where this came from, right, You do know?
You do know that Congress put a rule in. You know,
you can only deduct a certain amount and salary and
paying people and stock and all these things. You can
(05:50):
fix this problem like that like that. Now we're not
We're not gonna We're not going to pay in stock.
The only people that would allow that if I was
running the show again, but they would would definitely be dead. Okay,
this is why the bullet wouldn't miss. Okay, if you
try this in today's day and age, CEOs, CEOs who
(06:12):
are found an entrepreneur who founds a company, Okay, yeah,
they got chair. I mean that, that's yours, that's your baby.
But I don't even throw a great CEO as far
as management as Colonel Jamie Diamond, Jamie Diamond should get
a check in the same way that show, Hey, Ohtani
gets a check. Show Otani doesn't get shares in a
(06:36):
Los Angeles Dodgers. Okay, Aaron Judge doesn't get shares in
the New York Yankees don't work that way. They get paid.
They get a salary, Okay, get rid any sort of
stock compensation. Dude, you get a check like everybody else.
You want to. You're doing a good job, you like
(06:56):
the company, work for you buy your own damn shares.
The only people, in my opinion, that should be getting
shares part ownership are the workers. Are the workers in
the company. If you're in the c suite, No, you
get a check. You can you can give them a
big check. Damy Jamie Dimond should get a fat check
(07:17):
every year that he has to pay freaking taxes on,
just like I gotta pay. Okay, I have ownership. I'm
one third owner with my brothers Markowski. Just us. Okay,
we founded it. Okay, we found that. I'll never go
public whatever it may be. And again, private equity love
to buyas right now, but we're not selling and we
(07:38):
never will sell to them. Okay. The people that are working,
you are a worker at Chipolte, Okay, give them ships,
make that part of their compensation. Give them ownership. You
rise to the top. Just what you're getting a check
you can afford at that point in time to buy
(08:00):
your own Damn shares. Problem freaking solved, problem solved. It's
it's just that simple. And I'm gonna do another podcast
on Elon Musk's paypack. But again we create his congress
created this. This is why you have these this concentration.
Jeff Bezos, Jeff Bezon, Why are gonna get mad at
(08:23):
him in the type of he started freaking the company? Okay,
it's his Okay, those are his shares. He didn't get
pay anything now nothing, he's gotting no salary. Those are
his shares. Okay, no problem with billionaires. You earn it
that way. The problem is how we go end up
compensating people in today's day and age. And I know
(08:46):
some companies give stock compensation to some of the workers,
but you know what, take it away from the people
at the top, because then what we have what we
have stock buybacks. I've talked about this at length here
in the program. Happens all oh coming buying backstock. You're
buying back the executive shares often because they've got to
sell right either borrowing at it or they're selling at
(09:08):
it some point in time. This is fixable, but we're
not doing it. These These are things that could be
done today, Republicans should be doing this crap, but they're
so tied in. Okay, and again it's not the republic
its the Democrats too. Okay, you know, people, You look
to these people in Washington, d c. And for the
(09:30):
most part, I don't saying right now, ninety eight percent
of them don't give a damn about you. Take a
look at how wealth how again, it's right in front
of our eyes. And again you watch this stuff in
real time. More often than not, most of them. You
take a look at their resumes. They never built anything,
they never created anything. They've never had to sign the
(09:51):
front of a check. They don't have to deal with
all of the regulations and crap that we have to.
And I'm gona pull my hair out. I gotta do
my continuing education classes. If not, you know, Markowski investments
get in trouble. It's the same crap every single year.
(10:15):
I'm gonna have anti money laundering classes that I'm gonna
have to take that I've taken. I mean, I've got
to pay to take these classes. All this stupid nonsense. Okay,
none of them have to do deal with any of
the crap that we here in the real world have
to deal with, and you keep voting for him, and
you take a look at how wealthy they become because
(10:38):
of the tie ins that they have and the stuff
that they know, that the information that they're privy to. Ooh,
off ramp, government's gonna be paying for an off ramp
over here, and you know, bumfump whenever countries sit whatever
may oh guess what we'll buy land over there. And
(10:59):
I've watched this in real time. I was at a
this is years. That's a true story. This guy was
a jerk too. Fundraisers is here in Florida, guys running
for uh who is for the house? Is going back
to like two thousand and I'm trying to remember two
thousand and four, two thousand and five. Friend of mine,
(11:20):
you know, invited me going to meet this guy and
I'm talking with him and he's discussing how he knows,
you know, where the certain rest areas are going in
in the state of Florida on certain highways and how
he was like buying in or you know, partnering with
some of the companies that were doing the construction. And
(11:42):
I'm and by mind, I'm like basically inside of trading, right,
you're basically taking advantage because you know where money is going.
I'm like aft up and it's again, it's it's the
entire system. You know, we should be voting for people.
As how Congress should work, quite frankly, should be a
(12:03):
part time job is what it should be. Weekend job.
You know, it's kind of like we have National Guard,
right your National Guard. You go and you serve a
couple of weekends. You should have a real job. There's
no need for all the crap that we got going
on now, you know again you want to do it
(12:23):
for a month or two, get everything done, Okay, cram Okay,
allow these to have like maybe you know, maybe a
three day work week. But you should have a job
outside of what you're doing in Washington, DC. Your job
shouldn't because what do they do most of the time.
Most of the time they're just raising money. They're raising
(12:45):
money and oh yeah, they'll they'll they'll they'll send you
a mass email, they'll take your ten dollars donations, and
they pray at all a freak. Have you ever taken
a look at the type of what they're If you
want to get a committee appointment, you want to gain
any power in Washington, d C. The type of money
that you have to raise. Once you get there and
you're able to do it, you're able to do it.
(13:08):
I remember surgeon friend of mine, he died several years ago,
way too young, talking about, you know, the phone calls
that he would get. This guy was top eye surgeon,
no Joe, top i surgeon in the country. The phone
(13:30):
calls he would get, and he did very, very well
and one of the most successful, you know, not just
I plaster, I mean they own officer, They're fantastic. And
the you know, well, you know, you know you're not
going to get the reimbursements are going to go down here.
This is going to go in here unless you send
me a check, unless you send me a check. And
(13:51):
we were at a you know, a birthday party still birthdays,
uh that our kids were young, at a park near
my house, and we do you know, a bunch of
them all together and he's like, Chris, they're all whores.
They are all whores. And like, I know, I know,
they don't ask me anymore because they know what my
(14:12):
response is going to be and doesn't make any difference. Yeah, yeah,
make a difference. Yeah. I remember we tried at Markowski Investments,
UH to to manage some money, government money, you know,
pensions and whatnot. So like, no, doesn't matter your performance, Chris,
it doesn't matter how good you are at your job.
(14:34):
You got to hire yourself a lobbyist. Yeah right, you know,
not gonna happen. Not something that we're going to do.
But anyway, as I get off the beaten track like
I often do, it'd be nice. It'd be nice if
we and I tell young people out there, you know
this is this is not capitalism. It hasn't been capitalism
(14:56):
for a very long time. And like I said, I
understand you frustration. I get it. Watchdog on Wall Street
dot Com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast, explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I got an idea. I've been saying this for some time.
Let's try socialism. Let's try let's try capitalism. We're capitalist country.
We're getting that. We're not. We haven't been a capitalist
country for a very long time. And next week I'm
going to actually even go back to the nineteen seventies.
(00:38):
So we're going to talk a little bit about the
gold standard and productivity and the financialization of the United States,
and we're going to get into that in great depth
next week. But I've been beating this drum for a
long time here on the program, talking about corporatism, crony
(00:59):
cap Oh yeah, crony capitalism is essentially socialism. We are
more socialist here in this country than we are capitalist.
That's just a fact. We do it through different means.
We do it through regulations, we do it through the
tax code. I've talked about this before here on the program,
(01:21):
years and years and years ago. I was talking about
the regulatory code and the tax code and how's you
know that's where all power lies in Washington, d C.
This is how they're able to raise money by writing regulations,
writing in loopholes, taxing companies, not taxing companies, how they
(01:42):
collect This reason why Washington, DC is the wealthiest place
in the country. It is the amount of money that
flows through there. Based upon this, I equated the tax
code in the regulatory code. I said, it's like the
yellow sun for Superman. Superman gets all his power Superman
because of our yellow sun. And well, this is where
(02:04):
Congress gets all his power. I remember talking about this.
We had Neil Boorts as well, one of my favorite
talk radio show hosts. I used to talk a lot
about having a national sales tax rather than an income tax,
and if we had that, we had that. And I
actually had this conversation with him. We were we were
(02:28):
doing radio row next to one another. This was at
the it was Denver. This is in Denver. This is
when Obama was being being knighted at that point in time.
But yeah, we had this radio I'm talking about this
and I said, you know, the reality is it'll never
happen because it takes all power away from Washington, d C.
(02:51):
If we had a national sales tax, fair tax, pay
at at the point of sale. Again, you couldn't hide,
you spend money, you know, you pay, you know, you
get all the people that cheat your drug all that stuff. Okay,
but again it won't happen because this is where all
their power lies. So why we don't run a capitalist
country that That hasn't been true for a very long time. Yeah. Sure,
(03:16):
you get pockets of it within local communities, but I
can break this down into everything. You know, you take
a look at the tariffs, and I've been talking about
that for some time. I mean, who benefits from this?
Does Nike really get hurt by tariffs? Or does Nike's
competitor really get hit by tariffs? He go right on
(03:38):
down the list. More people starting to jump on board.
In my bad Actually, I'm gonna Steve Bannon. I don't
agree with him on a lot of stuff. Again, he
was awful to the greatest governor I've ever seen, Okay,
in my lifetime, Ron DeSantis here in the state to Florida.
(04:00):
I mean, there's there's no comparison named a better governor
than Ron DeSantis and quite frankly, I'm being honest here.
He should be in the White House. Okay, yeah, Trump
wasn't my and I voted for him, but Trump wasn't
my choice this time around. It wasn't my choice back
in twenty sixteen. I never win, Okay, I'm I'm an
(04:24):
all time loser when it comes to the people. I
want for a present. I wanted Ron Paul, I wanted Ran.
I never win. Okay, So we got Trump. But Steve
Bannon again, I don't know, he's got this allegiance to Trump.
I don't know what's going on. But he actually echoed
finally what I've been saying here for not years, but decades.
(04:45):
These kids, he's talking about the young people that came
out to vote for Mandami. These kids don't hate capitalism.
They've never had a shot at it. They're at the
receiving end of corporatism, just like the Russian serfs before
(05:05):
the Bolsheviks. We need more capitalists. One way to give
them capital is not just better wages, that's income. Let's
get them a little buy into the financial structure of
the country. And he was talking about reallocation at the time.
And I'm not a I'm not a big believer in that.
(05:29):
But you know we talk about various different pay packages
that CEOs get. You know that people complain about this stuff.
You know where this came from, right, You do know?
You do know that Congress put a rule in. You know,
you can only deduct a certain amount and salary and
paying people and stock and all these things. You can
(05:50):
fix this problem like that like that. Now we're not
We're not gonna We're not going to pay in stock.
The only people that would allow that if I was
running the show again, but they would would definitely be dead. Okay,
this is why the bullet wouldn't miss. Okay, if you
try this in today's day and age, CEOs, CEOs who
(06:12):
are found an entrepreneur who founds a company, Okay, yeah,
they got chair. I mean that, that's yours, that's your baby.
But I don't even throw a great CEO as far
as management as Colonel Jamie Diamond, Jamie Diamond should get
a check in the same way that show, Hey, Ohtani
gets a check. Show Otani doesn't get shares in a
(06:36):
Los Angeles Dodgers. Okay, Aaron Judge doesn't get shares in
the New York Yankees don't work that way. They get paid.
They get a salary, Okay, get rid any sort of
stock compensation. Dude, you get a check like everybody else.
You want to. You're doing a good job, you like
(06:56):
the company, work for you buy your own damn shares.
The only people, in my opinion, that should be getting
shares part ownership are the workers. Are the workers in
the company. If you're in the c suite, No, you
get a check. You can you can give them a
big check. Damy Jamie Dimond should get a fat check
(07:17):
every year that he has to pay freaking taxes on,
just like I gotta pay. Okay, I have ownership. I'm
one third owner with my brothers Markowski. Just us. Okay,
we founded it. Okay, we found that. I'll never go
public whatever it may be. And again, private equity love
to buyas right now, but we're not selling and we
(07:38):
never will sell to them. Okay. The people that are working,
you are a worker at Chipolte, Okay, give them ships,
make that part of their compensation. Give them ownership. You
rise to the top. Just what you're getting a check
you can afford at that point in time to buy
(08:00):
your own Damn shares. Problem freaking solved, problem solved. It's
it's just that simple. And I'm gonna do another podcast
on Elon Musk's paypack. But again we create his congress
created this. This is why you have these this concentration.
Jeff Bezos, Jeff Bezon, Why are gonna get mad at
(08:23):
him in the type of he started freaking the company? Okay,
it's his Okay, those are his shares. He didn't get
pay anything now nothing, he's gotting no salary. Those are
his shares. Okay, no problem with billionaires. You earn it
that way. The problem is how we go end up
compensating people in today's day and age. And I know
(08:46):
some companies give stock compensation to some of the workers,
but you know what, take it away from the people
at the top, because then what we have what we
have stock buybacks. I've talked about this at length here
in the program. Happens all oh coming buying backstock. You're
buying back the executive shares often because they've got to
sell right either borrowing at it or they're selling at
(09:08):
it some point in time. This is fixable, but we're
not doing it. These These are things that could be
done today, Republicans should be doing this crap, but they're
so tied in. Okay, and again it's not the republic
its the Democrats too. Okay, you know, people, You look
to these people in Washington, d c. And for the
(09:30):
most part, I don't saying right now, ninety eight percent
of them don't give a damn about you. Take a
look at how wealth how again, it's right in front
of our eyes. And again you watch this stuff in
real time. More often than not, most of them. You
take a look at their resumes. They never built anything,
they never created anything. They've never had to sign the
(09:51):
front of a check. They don't have to deal with
all of the regulations and crap that we have to.
And I'm gona pull my hair out. I gotta do
my continuing education classes. If not, you know, Markowski investments
get in trouble. It's the same crap every single year.
(10:15):
I'm gonna have anti money laundering classes that I'm gonna
have to take that I've taken. I mean, I've got
to pay to take these classes. All this stupid nonsense. Okay,
none of them have to do deal with any of
the crap that we here in the real world have
to deal with, and you keep voting for him, and
you take a look at how wealthy they become because
(10:38):
of the tie ins that they have and the stuff
that they know, that the information that they're privy to. Ooh,
off ramp, government's gonna be paying for an off ramp
over here, and you know, bumfump whenever countries sit whatever
may oh guess what we'll buy land over there. And
(10:59):
I've watched this in real time. I was at a
this is years. That's a true story. This guy was
a jerk too. Fundraisers is here in Florida, guys running
for uh who is for the house? Is going back
to like two thousand and I'm trying to remember two
thousand and four, two thousand and five. Friend of mine,
(11:20):
you know, invited me going to meet this guy and
I'm talking with him and he's discussing how he knows,
you know, where the certain rest areas are going in
in the state of Florida on certain highways and how
he was like buying in or you know, partnering with
some of the companies that were doing the construction. And
(11:42):
I'm and by mind, I'm like basically inside of trading, right,
you're basically taking advantage because you know where money is going.
I'm like aft up and it's again, it's it's the
entire system. You know, we should be voting for people.
As how Congress should work, quite frankly, should be a
(12:03):
part time job is what it should be. Weekend job.
You know, it's kind of like we have National Guard,
right your National Guard. You go and you serve a
couple of weekends. You should have a real job. There's
no need for all the crap that we got going
on now, you know again you want to do it
(12:23):
for a month or two, get everything done, Okay, cram Okay,
allow these to have like maybe you know, maybe a
three day work week. But you should have a job
outside of what you're doing in Washington, DC. Your job
shouldn't because what do they do most of the time.
Most of the time they're just raising money. They're raising
(12:45):
money and oh yeah, they'll they'll they'll they'll send you
a mass email, they'll take your ten dollars donations, and
they pray at all a freak. Have you ever taken
a look at the type of what they're If you
want to get a committee appointment, you want to gain
any power in Washington, d C. The type of money
that you have to raise. Once you get there and
you're able to do it, you're able to do it.
(13:08):
I remember surgeon friend of mine, he died several years ago,
way too young, talking about, you know, the phone calls
that he would get. This guy was top eye surgeon,
no Joe, top i surgeon in the country. The phone
(13:30):
calls he would get, and he did very, very well
and one of the most successful, you know, not just
I plaster, I mean they own officer, They're fantastic. And
the you know, well, you know, you know you're not
going to get the reimbursements are going to go down here.
This is going to go in here unless you send
me a check, unless you send me a check. And
(13:51):
we were at a you know, a birthday party still birthdays,
uh that our kids were young, at a park near
my house, and we do you know, a bunch of
them all together and he's like, Chris, they're all whores.
They are all whores. And like, I know, I know,
they don't ask me anymore because they know what my
(14:12):
response is going to be and doesn't make any difference. Yeah, yeah,
make a difference. Yeah. I remember we tried at Markowski Investments,
UH to to manage some money, government money, you know,
pensions and whatnot. So like, no, doesn't matter your performance, Chris,
it doesn't matter how good you are at your job.
(14:34):
You got to hire yourself a lobbyist. Yeah right, you know,
not gonna happen. Not something that we're going to do.
But anyway, as I get off the beaten track like
I often do, it'd be nice. It'd be nice if
we and I tell young people out there, you know
this is this is not capitalism. It hasn't been capitalism
(14:56):
for a very long time. And like I said, I
understand you frustration. I get it. Watchdog on Wall Street
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Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com