Uncomfortable possibility: maybe the rich people are not just sitting on their ass, and are performing an important economic function even if it's not obvious w

Uncomfortable possibility: maybe the rich people are not just sitting on their ass, and are performing an important economic function even if it's not obvious what it is. Disincentivize this function and the few producers still left in the market have less competition, and hence more ability to raise prices. Eliminate the private sector altogether (as the Soviet Union did) and you don't have inflation, you have shortages.