Housing prices are not rising like they did a short time ago, thanks to higher interest rates. Bringing down those rates, however, would be counterproductive.

Viewed in isolation, these trends could be viewed as good, bad, or neutral. But in the proper context—that of monetary policy that increasingly makes upward mobility harder—they illustrate a stagnating society. For the young in particular, building a meaningful life is increasingly constrained by policies that inflate asset prices, devalue wages, and punish saving.