Thanks for playing our little game and giving us so detailed feedback!
The softlock thing is something that was missed totaly by us. There will be a fix for that. Regarding the economy there are for sure some problems: giving the pirates not so valueable biscuits is a good strategy (i did it to haha) but the showing for a design flaw for sure. We wanted to implement a hit system to show player, where some biscuits may be better to buy or sell. Sadly it didnt make it into the game.