I'm an armchair economist, hello! Are you one as well? Nice! We armchair economists should look out for each other, who else is going to do it ya know? ;-) I'd pour you some wine or any beverage of your choice if I'd see you in IRL.

In any case.

I disagree with your point. Companies that have solid fundamentals and fairly steady dividend payments do not feel like a ponzi at all. The deal is simple: you get a share, they give you a dividend. If management changes that, you can always sell the share.

Dividend payments is one of the best tools to keep a stock market (somewhat) honest.