Wright, “Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes”, Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences, 3, 4, 1936. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  These are clearly extraordinary changes.
We are living in a different economy, a different society, from those of even a quarter of a century ago: a global society, with an exceptionally rapid and extensive diffusion of ideas and knowledge, an enormous mass of information available, and nearly 300 times the global financial assets, in dollar value, compared with 1970 (while US consumer prices have risen just sixfold).