Comment by bufordsharkley

For what it's worth, I find the "landlords" explanation here extremely compelling. In the last year, I've happened upon the works of the 19th century economist Henry George (who identified landlordism as the root cause of poverty) and found his distinction between land and capital to explain many of the "paradoxes" we have in modern economics.

I recommend checking out his work, but if anybody is curious about details of his economic theories, AMA.