>>64372303
indeed! and he would goof off at every opportunity, work a side gig (often using company materials), siphon gas from the company vehicles, catcall every passing adolescent female, finish the job with some kind of lazy-ass smekalka that will last 1/10th the lifespan of the real deal and kill the maintenance staff, etc.
so there are legitimate reasons for middle management

but like I said. times are tough, and managers managing managers is a real problem we're looking at. for example, some C-level execs think that problems are solved by slapping another manager on top of the problem and then going out for cocktails and cocktail waitresses

>>64372322
>Now B cannot walk to work because everything is designed for cars. Not only has he lost an option he'll never have, he's starting off worse because he has to take assets he'd use for something more productive and spend them on the car he needs to start working at all
true, there is something to what you say

proportionately, it might take me twice the years to buy a similar house today and it would still be twice the travel time to the city centre
I'm just saying, the comparison is not quite apples and apples

>>64372341
the piping and wiring in my granddad's house is a crazy jumble laid along the Olympic principle (who got there first laid first and along the shortest route possible)
and we had a gas-fired heater, and yes it took time to warm up.
however once again, I think what you say is partly true
>almost every aspect of build quality is worse than it was 20 years ago
this is the qualitative aspect of a recession that economists rarely talk about or aren't even conscious of. in addition to financial markets falling and stagnating, build standards is a form of stealth inflation. put simply: if a house of index 100 quality used to cost $100 but now costs double, builders reduce quality by 25 and raise prices to $150. it still costs double but the sticker price doesn't reflect it.