This is a great explanation for a commonly noticed frustration. A friend of mine asked me the other day what I think would happen if everyone defaulted on their student loans and if I think the government would implement mass debt forgiveness. My response was that it would be very unlikely because the government would rather distribute new wealth at the top, not just because of upholding insider interests (which is probably the biggest part of it, if we’re going to be honest), but because it has an immediate (but semi-artificial) impact in boosting the economy in times of crisis. Inflation works in a similar way. This is an argument for increasing the minimum wage, since in most cases the minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. But as you said, evenly redistributed wealth means rising prices. It’s the big Catch-22 of poverty and even of the middle classes now. Poor people always get the most screwed over.