The real issue is the economy in this game is so screwed up it encourages theft. If there were ways to earn money to buy the exorbitantly expensive items that didn't involve hoarding enormous amounts of junk and carrying them all over Faerun people wouldn't have the pressure to steal and save scum.
I am not sure as to your assertion that the economy is screwed up to the point that it encourages having to resort to pickpocketing or thievery.
Do you realize how much gold you can amass easily in EA Act1?
I always take Urchin on my lone solo character builds, and going on nearly 600 hours of playing EA BG3, I only resort to pickpocketing when I want a specific item. For example, I always, always raid (depending upon solo build I am running at the time) the Druid's Grove Halfling trader (the first one you get to when you enter Druid's Grove) to get Dragon's Grasp, or as another example, Hitting Volo up before he heads off to the Goblin Camp to get captured for his Blessing ring. Other than those few items, I have NO problemo at all with accumulating gold to buy whatever else I need or require for a particular build or character. But yeah, I am also not decking out 3 other party members either. But even when running a full party, gold or the accumulation of gold should not be an issue for anyone that has done more than one playthrough.
