>At that point, the last group of people who took stupid financial risks are left holding the bag.

Isn’t that all the policy makers, old voters, taxpayer funded DB pension funds, etc that depend on broad market equity index fund returns?

Obviously, the system breaks down when it breaks down (when the currency has no purchasing power left to lose), but until then, the entire political apparatus is incentivized to bail out asset prices.

And if that isn’t possible, then the status of your investments/brokerage/bank accounts is going to be the least of your worries, as you will have more immediate concerns about procuring food/energy/shelter/security.