the increased power that rich counties(no matter how small they may be) could acquire
That applies to 'rich' individuals too.
Consider what a knowledgeable, well trained, well equipped individual (by today's standards) could do in ANY field a hundred years ago....two hundred years...five hundred years. I suspect that at some point that individual would be nation equivalent.
Today's nations are getting more powerful...BUT...today's individuals are getting more powerful too.....at a faster rate. I predict that at some time in the future (if it hasn't happened already) an INDIVIDUAL (trillionaire?) will be more powerful than some governments.
Individuals don't have buracracies or chain of command, the right hand ALWAYS knows what the left hand is doing.
The Iron Law doesn't apply to them.