Yes, population growth does produce new jobs and markets, as I pointed out. But these gains are relative, while those of population are absolute. That is, if the population triples, but the jobs double, (certainly possible through automation) then the growing number of unemployed forces salaries DOWN for EVERYBODY. And that is exactly what they are counting on.

Of course, I picked doubling and tripling to make my point, in reality the expansions are usually just a few per cent per year, but the result is the same, just stretched out over time. More people want fewer jobs and salaries (after correcting for inflation) fall. The Law of Supply and Demand, oh my.

Meanwhile, what are all this borrowing and investment and frenzied activity getting us? Services, consumer goods, entertainment, luxuries. We sell millions of cell phones but we don't make them here. Nothing we build here contributes to our future prosperity, they just keep us happy until a Trump comes along. When was the last time we built a steel mill? No we're selling them to the Japanese because THEY"RE BETTER AT RUNNING THEM THAN WE ARE. We're not building harbors or factories or spending on education or social services, its all bread and circuses. We're selling automobile service policies and lending money to the poor at pawn shop interest rates.

And don't tell me how much better things are now than then. I lived back then, and I know for a fact that's not true. What little we have today has been borrowed from the future.