hbadger, please take the time to read upthread. You are making assumptions left and right:

Nobody says crypto inflation is "free" money. That's the point. All new coins require work, inflation or not.

If it is true that inflation is not an incentive for spending, then we are in trouble because fiat does have incentive to spend, and we won't be able to compete.

It is well established that finite money supplies don't work over the long term.

Why?

- Hoarding + privileged mining = shrinking supply in circulation
- Little to no block reward means tx witholding and competitive fee escalations
- Perpetually increasing value means disincentivized spending
- Perpetually increasing tx fees mean disincentivized spending

What is the takeaway here? You are punishing the spenders. Not a promising strategy in a currency.