[moneycantbuy]

Not entirely, the problems are also that wages haven't kept up with inflation; $9,000 salary in 1970 would be $75,000 today, and the automakers realized they make more profit in financing than on the vehicle itself, optimizing the maximum they can squeeze someone who needs a vehicle, hence 96 months for an auto loan.

[WillPostForFood]

$9,000 salary in 1970 would be $75,000 today

That's actually in the range of what contractors make today.

Some sources:

GLassdoor: 67k https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/contractor-salary-SRCH_KO...

Finturf: 75k https://finturf.com/blog/how-much-do-contractors-make/

BLS: 91k https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/construction-managers.htm...

[_DeadFred_]

Also if we are going to say the truck of yesterday is better now, productivity today is 2x what it was, so that $75,000 should be more like $150,000 (since we have to account for things improving for their higher price, we can't ignore productivity improving, that would make for warped comparisons).