Rent-seeking is a common feature of any fiat economy. This is because there’s a large pot of money to be gained through Cantillon effects, and that means a lot of economic activity is not subject to normal market forces, like the need to satisfy customers. Like a malignant cancer, rent-seeking tends to spread through the economy, usually through government regulation, where many unnecessary positions, created to satisfy some bureaucrat, end up adding cost. Such positions tend to be perceived as relatively easy, as the hard work of creating something the market wants is avoided.
Flares emit same pollution as mining.
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