It's indirect wealth - it doesn't live in warehouses, and people can't buy it directly.

But if breeds wealth in the same way that lack of infrastructure - including lack of banking infrastructure - destroys it.

If you're losing spending power, it doesn't matter if you're losing it to inflation or because items are piling up in the docks because no one can offer a credit line for it.

There's also the subtext that 'inflation' is often really just code for 'worker power.' But that's for another diary.