She clearly was accountable for tanking the economy, but has no other reasonable defence.

Fair enough.

Or… Landlords use the new market prices for the area and so the price increase ripple outwards and onwards. Unlike the physics principles of ripples, there is never cancellation where ripples meet, only additon. Creating a new higher normal rent and so on

Standards surely must apply to all, especially anyone representing populations of people.

A tragic demonstration of the Sanford prison experiment, or more realistically, another demonstration of dehumanising to make normal people do unspeakable things to thier fellow people, as shown all too often by history