In ancient Judaism there was the concept of "jubilee" in which all debts were forgiven. Zakat seems like a better version, as jubilee seems like it could be easily gamed and would dis-incentivize borrowing around the time of its action. I find it troublesome that modern nations can't see what much smaller nations or tribes found self-evident long ago: regular corrective actions keep the interests of a peoples aligned, as empathy is a weaker force than self-interest; downturns, poor future betting and wealth loss among the oligarch class, and natural disaster will Balkanize and disunite peoples unless losses are shared and create civilization-destroying or civilization-uniting opportunities for change. In a market guided by self-interest, eventually someone or some group will win the game, and when that happens people lose the incentive to cooperate and trade and a type of rot will take hold, the taxes of the State will pale in comparison to the hidden oligarch tithe enacted on all who made the grievous mistake of relying upon the beast to survive.