[sesteel]

This is conjecture and hyperbole on your part. The economy has grown substantially and rather consistently over the past 40 years (except for manufacturing).

It seems silly, but I feel compelled to remind today's youth that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. Also, none of us know as much as we think we do.

[maxerickson]

There are some interesting confounding factors though. Between 1970 and 2000, U.S. workforce participation increased by about 8%, while the population grew by 80 million people.

And while lots of manufacturing jobs have moved overseas or whatever, automation has had at least as much impact. If you look at it in terms of production, U.S. manufacturing has grown over time. Even something like the steel industry is pretty much at par with the output of 40 years ago, they just do it with a lot fewer people.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000 (fiddle the dates)

http://www.multpl.com/united-states-population/table

http://minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/#steel