Today for one or two people flying is often cheaper than driving unless you're marathon drivers. Once you roll a whole family in it still might be cheaper once you consider the food, hotel/motel, lost time due to infinite bathroom breaks, etc in addition to gas and miles on the car.
But you've made a good point; people made do with less back then and that should be factored in.
I think part of the problem is that the artificially low interest rates are turning "conventional wisdom" or "traditional values" on their head. At 6-8% interest rate and 1-3% inflation saving money makes sense as you get a real interest rate that's positive enough to make saving money smart. Putting away money for future expenses is a good thing as future expenses are discounted today via the interest rate. Living within your means is actually wise.
Today only a fool isn't indebted because with interest rates below 1% and inflation at several percent people are effectively paying you to take loans. Saving money for future expenses actually makes them more expensive; better to wait til you need the money and then borrow it so that you can reap the benefit of negative real interest rates, rather than pay it. Because it doesn't make sense to save money, people don't and that means spending. Good for the GDP numbers today, bad for conventional wisdom about money and especially bad for society's ability to withstand credit shocks or employment shocks as nobody has a cash buffer to see them through the hard times.
But you've made a good point; people made do with less back then and that should be factored in.
I think part of the problem is that the artificially low interest rates are turning "conventional wisdom" or "traditional values" on their head. At 6-8% interest rate and 1-3% inflation saving money makes sense as you get a real interest rate that's positive enough to make saving money smart. Putting away money for future expenses is a good thing as future expenses are discounted today via the interest rate. Living within your means is actually wise.
Today only a fool isn't indebted because with interest rates below 1% and inflation at several percent people are effectively paying you to take loans. Saving money for future expenses actually makes them more expensive; better to wait til you need the money and then borrow it so that you can reap the benefit of negative real interest rates, rather than pay it. Because it doesn't make sense to save money, people don't and that means spending. Good for the GDP numbers today, bad for conventional wisdom about money and especially bad for society's ability to withstand credit shocks or employment shocks as nobody has a cash buffer to see them through the hard times.