The stock buybacks are not a byproduct of out of control capitalism, rather they are a misuse of capital at the hands of immoral managers. The corporate executives are not the ones who contributed the capital, yet they are given control over it, then abuse that control for self enrichment.
The proper method for returning capital to the owners is via dividends. IF a company repurchases shares, any equity/earnings based compensation should require a per share adjustment that reflects the reduced number of shares. A buyback must be accounted for in the same way a reverse split is treated by Wall Street.