I pass no judgement on whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but:

> That's a) impossible

Well, that's prima facie not true. It can indeed be possible for theft and violation of private property to be a net good for the economy as a whole.

Again, I stress, I have no idea about this case per se. It's an interesting thought experiment though, as to when the government taking something away from private citizens like that can be good on the whole for an economy.