I also don't think it is a an iron law (horrible term), but I think you're overstating the claim here. It's only that there a tendency for wages to fall to subs

I also don't think it is a an iron law (horrible term), but I think you're overstating the claim here. It's only that there a tendency for wages to fall to subsistence. There is a positive feedback in wealth accumulation, so inequality does tend to grow without intervention. In the last few years, this has been happening due to increasing wealth inequality. The actions you cite (getting skills and education) have been seeing severely diminished returns, to the point that college makes little financial sense for a large portion of people.