“If the gold standard policy didn’t “improve the lives of average Americans”, how was it possible that, after 182 years, the average American was wealthier than ever?”
Maybe there were a lot of other factors involved, such as the industrial revolution, the Constitution that protected private property and individual rights, the patent system that protected intellectual rights, the literate electorate...
However, with respect to the economic outlook for the USA, the ones you listed>> such as the industrial revolution, the Constitution that protected private property and individual rights, the patent system that protected intellectual rights, the literate electorate... are either more evenly distributed across the world or are specifically fractured here at home.
-The industrial revolution is now more of an open intellectual/cyber/internet revolution.
-Our Constitution is in an ongoing process of bring reinterpreted and/or ignored.
-Individual & property rights, while still existing, are being strangled in a smothering morass of bureaucratic rules & regulations.
-Patents, information and many other protections & proofs are easier than ever to steal, fake or fudge in this interconnected world.
-The US 'literate electorate' isn't so literate these days. Personal responsibility and morals continue to decline.
Factor in our government listing toward fascism and things are just ducky, aren't they? :-|