Editorial: Tawdry tales of rich and powerful

The behaviour outlined in court over the past fortnight in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort comes as no surprise to those who have studied the rich and powerful.

Prosecutors, who rested their case yesterday, have outlined staggering alleged crimes of fraud and at least US$16 million in tax evasion amid details of 15 offshore accounts, work for Ukrainian oligarchs and ostrich and python jackets.

The alleged deceit was both impersonal and personal. Manafort's deputy Rick Gates, who was also deputy Trump campaign chief, admitted to misdeeds on behalf of his boss while ripping him off behind his back and spending large on a long-distance affair.

According to Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, "to researchers who study wealth and power, it's dismaying but not surprising".

One study Keltner was part of six years ago involved tracking the model of every car at an intersection whose driver cut off others instead of waiting their turn. People driving expensive cars were four times more likely to ignore right-of-way laws than those in cheap cars. "It told us that there's something about wealth and privilege that makes you feel like you're above the law, that allows you to treat others like they don't exist," Keltner told the Washington Post.

The Manafort trial emerged from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but doesn't relate to claims of Russian election interference.

There has been some linkage between business and politics with witnesses saying Federal Savings Bank chairman Stephen Calk pushed millions in loans through for Manafort because he wanted a post in the Trump Administration. Gates said Manafort wanted the banker's name put forward for secretary of the Army.

A mixture of financial sleaziness and disregard for rules has hung over the Trump Administration.

The President is battling Omarosa Manigault Newman over tapes and book claims, but why did a former reality TV show candidate work in the White House for a year, anyway? Trump's first congressional supporter, Chris Collins, has been charged with insider trading. Trump's first national security adviser, Mike Flynn, has pleaded guilty to crimes. Three Trump Cabinet members have quit under ethical scrutiny. At least four more have been in the spotlight over inappropriate use of taxpayer funds.

In an opinion piece, Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum saw a link between Manafort and Trump in the way failing institutions allowed them to operate, long before the presidential campaign. She wrote: "Legal organs, regulatory bodies, banks [are] supposed to prevent men like Trump from staying in business, let alone acquiring political power. The truth is that [they] failed a long time ago. Trump is not the cause of their failure. He is the result."

Fixing those underlying problems could be as futile as closing the lid on Pandora's box.