It's millions of cuts administered by hundreds of thousands of little kings.
Much of urban poverty, particularly among blacks, is the result of local, county and state licensing, permitting and zoning ordinances. It's the same in health care, education, etc. They imposition of legal monopolies kills entrepreneurship and redirects risk to bad behaviors.
I was recently talking with a marina owner who is being crushed financially by environmental regulations because his property is, naturally, on the water in a so-called flood zone. The government has forced him to extensively modify his main office building and to implement a very expensive water run-off collection system. This is on top of myriad other fees, taxes and regulations he is subject to. He has been forced to lay people off and is nearing the point of bankruptcy after two decades of operation. He will likely sell soon — if he can find a buyer.
There are millions of stories similar to this one in today’s Amerika.