Oh there is precedent for this. When i was bored to death with TSO, inflation did run wild. Eventually the experienced players had so much more money than the noobs, that a. the noobs got frustrated and TSO stopped growing and b. the experienced players had more money than they could EVER spend, and the incentive to play and make money and a lot of the fun disappeared.
I give great love to the Lindens for taking a proactive approach to this, I think they probably analyze it more than the Federal Government. I am not sure if inflation has caused real problems yet, but maybe its too late by then? It would be better if we could do this on a trial basis in certain areas, but that seems impossible. If it sucks, it can be reversed. As long as there is Tringo I am happy....