The increase of technical efficiency has been taking place faster than we can deal with the problem of labour absorption; the improvement in the standard of life has been a little too quick; the banking and monetary system of the world has been preventing the rate of interest from falling as fast as equilibrium requires.” (John Maynard Keynes, Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren, 1930).
BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  reoccurs year after year. A look at historic data reveals that national per capita income 2 in Western European countries has grown by a factor of almost 15 since the onset of the industrial revolution.