People are full of energy and drive when deprived of welfare benefits.

This is how a productive society meets the orders generated by product and service demands. When welfare benefits rise and motivation declines, it undermines the ability to fulfill those orders, which in turn hampers your trade expansion.

When orders dwindle, society needs to transition—into a consumer-driven one. How does such a society emerge? It’s essentially built through the distribution of welfare. Once the era of rapid trade expansion ends, and when most people perceive that upward mobility is unlikely yet their basic safety net is strong enough, the majority will be happy to spend. After all, there’s little point in saving if nothing stays with them anyway, and this generation isn’t going to change things much. That’s what a consumer society looks like.