It's partly driven by wide open human greed. Corporations, being abstract structures, don't experience emotion, and the people who run them aren't hiding their

It's partly driven by wide open human greed. Corporations, being abstract structures, don't experience emotion, and the people who run them aren't hiding their desire to accrue money and power. Your characterization of the process doesn't conform much to reality itself. Also, your solution doesn't seem terrible realistic. Most people don't have the wiggle room to quadruple expenses.