my take is government spending has broken things to the point where there are entire industries where it is no longer viable to carve out a middle class living. this includes basically anything that requires a brick and mortar storefront, with a couple of exceptions. thats why there are closed up retail stores literally everywhere, and the only new businesses opening up are national chains who have the scale to deal with a weakened economy.  the vast majority of jobs that will provide pay/benefits enough to sustain a good living are subsidized by out of control government spending (see: healthcare, defense, law enforcement, education). if the government were to stop racking up debt, there would be massive job loss and a crippling depression, which is why they know they dont have a choice but to keep the money printer going brrr. the spending though has resulted in ballooned salaries for government workers that have surpassed wages that can be achieved in the free market, hence all non-government adjacent industries are slowly dying.
United States