CEOs who exploit deficiencies in corporate-governance laws to grab a larger share of corporate revenues for themselves (leaving less for workers); and bankers who have engaged in predatory lending and abusive credit-card practices (often targeting poor and middle-class households). It is perhaps no accident that rent-seeking and inequality have increased as top tax rates have fallen, regulations have been eviscerated, and enforcement of existing rules has been weakened: the opportunity and returns from rent-seeking have increased.
这些顶层人士包括大量通过限制产量和进行反竞争活动提高收入的垄断者、利用公司治理法漏洞攫取公司收入更大份额（从而吞噬工人所应获得的份额）的CEO、进行掠夺性放贷和滥发信用卡（通常以穷人和中产阶级家庭为对象）的银行家。也许寻租和不平等的泛滥随着顶层税率的下降、而监管的架空和现有规则执行强度减弱而增加一点都不奇怪：寻租的机会和回报在增加。