Economy balance discussion

[Overfiend]

Hello all,
I have largely stayed out of the economic discussion because i think the problems won't be fixed until the Dev's put more into the game.

We are in an economic cycle where players use "other" methods to make alot of money and the devs respond by making things expensive.
Meanwhile the mass of people are don't benefit the "Other Markets" but still have to pay the expensive prices that the Dev's set.

I see the solutions are as simple as the following:

1. Close the loop holes that cause massive bank accounts.  Those loop holes are
  a. Free market code selling - The Devs can close this loophole by implementing controls around how codes are distributed.
  b. Apartment/house designs selling - The Dev can close this loophole by making apartment designing something that can only be done
      within the game, instead of via downloaded templates.  
  c. Premium player alt-farming - The Devs can end this anytime
  d. Implement controls/caps on mini-games where abuse is apparent

2. Make income earning methods that are reasonable.  The current methods take too long & reward too little.  I have a real job and life. Honestly i don't have the time to make fake in-game money.  The game should be played for fun not as a second job.  Also if methods of making money in-game were reasonable, it would diminish the need to resort to "Other" methods.

3. Make the cost of in-game items reasonable relative to the earning potential in the game.

4. The Devs have to get comfortable with some people saving their money in anticipation of the next update.  That's just natural.  They need to have a higher threshold amount for what a players savings account should be.  I have been playing this game almost 2 years and every time they come up with an update it nearly wipes out my savings.  That's not reasonable.  We should be allowed to hold a reserve to enjoy the game.
 
All of these are within the power of the Devs to manage. They have created this economy by allowing it.  
I think they are comfortable with it because it benefits them

1. the free market serves as a marketing resource to the game
2. It saves them time in programming. It requires less programming to let the free market handle apt designs and allow the premium codes to be available easily.  It takes more time for them to implement the proper controls.
3. As things get expensive they can offer users a chance to buy more in-game cash with real cash.

My final piece of advice is our membership base to recommend mini-games that allow for reasonable methods of making money in-game so that the players don't feel the need to result to the "other" methods that rehash the cycle that we are in.