I partially agree with this: > I think the biggest drops in wealth have occurred in shelter, medical and a little bit in transportation. But my conclusion is

I partially agree with this: > I think the biggest drops in wealth have occurred in shelter, medical and a little bit in transportation. But my conclusion is very different: shelter, healthcare and transport have not evaporated. If anything, we are more capable of treating people than before. We have the internet now, we should be able to educate more people. The problem is that the cost of those things has increased significantly in the last 80 years, but salaries have stagnated. A diabetic teacher could buy a house and afford insulin on a single salary, now they barely can afford the later while they live with their parents, because they can't even rent. As to why things are more expensive now... well I think the answer is that the difference is going to a small group of extremely rich individuals. Insurance and hospital owners in the case of healthcare, University owners on education. And lawyers in all layers. The cost of transportation is a bit more complex. It is a finite world, yes. But we'll run of nice weather to plant crops before we run out of oil.