Gil inflation is a real problem for new characters on legacy servers.
Not really.
Prices on gear mats and consumables are really low on legacy servers; sure that makes it hard to make a fortune but on the flip side you don't need much money for anything. The game feeds you gear (and gil) as you level and by running CT a few times a week, you'll have a full set of darklight/CT/myth mixture in no time and be ready to jump into higher tier content.
At launch I could agree more with the argument for avoiding legacy servers as a new player, but the situation now for all servers is exactly what it was then for legacy servers--there are established playerbases and economies on all servers and inflation is a problem for every server because we're on the townslope of 2.0-2.1's content lifespan. If anything, I'd guess that the rate of inflation is probably worse on some new servers because people started without money brought over from 1.x, meaning more incentive to get money in circulation via quests/levequests/etc.
I have not spent a single gil on anything besides a few teleports and gear repairs since before 2.1. There's nothing for me to spend money on until personal housing.