[yuzi]

Yes I agree. The quality of almost everything has dramatically improved, but I believe even if it was the same quality the bidding wars would push prices up to the same level. In my city I've seen 30 year old houses go up in value by 100% to 200% over a 5 year period. And honestly I've seen them and the quality didn't change. The price surge was fuelled by banks allowing people to borrow beyond their means or extending terms and the bidding wars people engaged in. Meanwhile incomes did not jump by nearly that much.

Anyways, my whole point is that this idea of a 15 hour work week by 2030 is just not going to happen and it's not because people are consuming more (which they are). It's because prices continually adjust to an maximum level which pushes people to sacrifice more.