While this article provides great commentary for a great societal change and seems to paint a happier time for workers, it fails to acknowledge that maybe today’s firms are better managed. We consumers are getting products and services for lower prices than we were 30 years ago. I will just use airline travel as an example.

If indeed the 1980s firms were better managed, shouldn’t they be able to compete with 2020s firms?

I think the change has a lot to do with how we handle business data. Back in 1950, managers did not have the skills or tools as we do today. They kind of made decisions based on experience than on any formal numerical analysis. This does not say experience has little value. But in time the firms that used numerical analysis overcame firms that relied on experience of its middle managers.