[granfalloon]

Come on, that's so disingenuous. "Punishment," as the word is most commonly used (and defined), implies a harm is being inflicted due to some fault or bad act by the punished.

You can say it's "unfair," or "undeserved," or like you say below, that it "discourages people from making a financially prudent decision". But no one wants to "punish" you -- that would be absurd.