> The "tax" is the delta between what the government pays out for the bonds vs what a bond of equivalent risk in the free market would have paid.

It also robs the individual's freedom to gamble with their retirement funds while expecting/demanding a bailout when shit hits the fan.

In the USA we have thoughtful policies that allow people over a certain amount of wealth invested in key industries to do that.

The vast bulk of this “freedom” is exercised by public and union pension funds, not individuals.

e.g. https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-united-states-gove...