Substitutes
Thomas Sowell makes an obvious point about politicians and who they choose to demonize.
The logic is simple: Demonize those whose place or power you plan to usurp.
Politicians who want the power to micro-manage business and the economy know that demonizing those who currently run businesses is the opening salvo in the battle to take over their roles.
There is no way that politicians can take over the roles of Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods or Oprah Winfrey. So they can make any amount of money they want and it doesn’t matter politically.
The politicians cannot run the banking or the auto industry either, but they are complicated enough to figure out that it is easier for them to blame their failures on someone else.