In the 60's my father, no college, provided house, two cars and vacations every year for family of 5. And no, he was not in a union of any kind. The NEVER used credit cards. I watch my dad pay cash for a brand new 1970 Maverick $2300.00.
One generation later, both my wife and I are college educated and we cannot do that and not run up huge debt. Try to pay cash for a new car now.
$28K for something economy class now. Inflation is out of control. How we measure it is laughable. I give it the same weight I give the official unemployment rate.
That price is ~30% of the median income in 1970. If you could strip modern amenities that people won't buy a new car today without (e.g. Air Conditioning), you could easily beat that price, and once you factored total cost of ownership by looking at gas mileage it is no contest. As it stands there are plenty of new cars that are WAY better than a 1970 Maverick available under 20k.
One generation later, both my wife and I are college educated and we cannot do that and not run up huge debt. Try to pay cash for a new car now.
People choosing debt over savings to obtain goods is a rational response to constant inflation, it doesn't really have anything to do with trade.
My wife and I are also college educated, it's why we don't waste money on new cars and save for our purchases.
But many people feel they 'need' things that weren't even consumer options in 1970, from cell phones, internet, cable, and a panoply of other consumer goods. If the government didn't interfere in the credit market there wouldn't be the constant inflation, and there wouldn't be the inducements to borrow that exist. You've got to identify the actual source of the problem, and the ability to trade isn't the problem...