patent and copyright restriction is a HUGE rent.  Even more so now that we&#x27;re first-to-file and not first-to-invent.  The financial sector subsists on two government-policy pillars.  1) access to lower-than-market interest rates on juicy loans which can then be flipped to the public at a higher rate (resulting in overall increased public exposure to the pain of systemic risk) and 2) secular inflation, which drives the general public into subsidizing corporate risk (via the stock market, e.g.) in order to be able to retire, since savings won&#x27;t cut it.<p>And that&#x27;s not even getting into bailouts.