When the Referee Buys a Team: The Hidden Risks of America’s New State-Investor Trend

“No one can serve two masters” — Matthew 6:24

Imagine a football game where the referees start buying stock in one of the teams. At first, no one blinks. But when the next close call goes that team’s way, the crowd starts wondering—is this still a fair game? That’s essentially what’s happening in America’s capital markets. The U.S. government is no longer just refereeing the economy; it’s starting to play.

Through agencies like the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, Washington has begun taking equity stakes in publicly traded companies—Intel, MP Materials, and Trilogy Metals among them. The stated goal is “national security” and “supply chain resilience,” but once the government becomes both regulator and owner, impartiality becomes impossible.

From Referee to Player

Historically, the U.S. avoided direct ownership in private enterprise, preferring to regulate and tax rather than own. But that wall is crumbling. In the name of strategic necessity, Washington is buying its way into industries once governed purely by market forces. This may look harmless—small stakes, non-voting shares, limited influence—but it marks a deeper philosophical shift. The government is moving from referee to participant, from regulator to shareholder. And once that happens, market outcomes begin to follow political priorities, not performance. When the state has money in the game, how objective can its rules really be?

The Quiet Rise of State-Influenced Capitalism

Around the world, “state-influenced capitalism” has blurred the lines between free markets and government control. China’s “mixed ownership” model, Europe’s subsidized industries—these were once foreign ideas. Now, America is following suit. The problem isn’t that the state invests occasionally—it’s that investment inevitably distorts incentives. Investors—especially retirement savers—are left to navigate markets that are no longer driven by merit. The more Washington plays shareholder, the harder it becomes to tell whether a company’s success is due to innovation—or influence.

Regulator and Owner: A Dangerous Dual Role

When the government owns part of a company, it faces an unavoidable conflict of interest. Would an agency fine a firm it profits from? Would a regulator restrict a company whose stock sits in its own portfolio? Even if bias never occurs, the appearance of bias erodes trust—the lifeblood of capital markets. We saw this danger in 2008, when government rescues of major corporations blurred the line between bailout and ownership. Today’s “strategic investments” risk repeating the pattern—just under a different name.

Markets, like governments, need boundaries—honest weights, transparent measures, and separate roles for steward and ruler.When the state starts owning the marketplace it’s meant to oversee, justice and efficiency both suffer.

-Stewardship becomes control.

-Accountability becomes advantage.

The danger isn’t that America suddenly turns socialist—it’s that free enterprise slowly becomes state-dependent. Capitalism works because the game is fair, the rules are known, and the referee doesn’t care who wins. Once the referee owns the team, that trust disappears. And without trust, no market—no matter how wealthy or advanced—can stand.