Senor Barborito wrote:

you know I heard the weirdest idea the other day and still haven't figured out what the hell is wrong with it, like that tricky question on the crossword puzzle. Proposal goes - whatever the current mean income of America (IIRC $25,000), give that to every citizen every year in biweekly installments. Result? Prices double. People who had NOTHING now can afford food, shelter, clothing. People who had an average salary haven't lost or gained anything. People who made a million a year had their incomes halved because now they make $1,025,000 which is equivalent to $512,500 'old' dollars.

I've yet to figure out a major problem with this idea (outside of the moral outrage I'm sure it instills in you) - any reasons as to why this would lead to economic collapse? Zebco, maybe a little help here?