Comment by diet_jerome

I disagree. The root problem that causes high prices of food/housing/healthcare is the lack of supply for food/housing/healthcare. The root problem that causes low supply of food/housing/healthcare is government regulation. There is enormous market incentive to provide more food/housing/healthcare, increase supply, and decrease prices. However, governments have made it difficult or impossible for the market to provide more food/housing/healthcare. Even if someone's paycheck is the same over 30 years, if the prices of things go down (as they have for nearly all products and services except food/housing/healthcare), their purchasing power would increase and they are by definition wealthier.