"There are no signs of this changing anytime soon."

Agreed, probably not until the world is more decentralized. The richest people will have the most influence over centralized government policy, and so it will always tend to favor them, even if they pretend the intention of their policies is to help the poor and middle.

Lawmakers are human and will be persuaded by what pays them the most.

Most people in the world are probably good and would use power responsibly and with a conscience. But we aren't the ones who compete most fiercely to get the power. The people who achieve the power are necessarily the ones who will tend to use it horribly.