Property is increasingly king again as wages have stagnated in inflation-adjusted terms. “Until the early 20th century, waged labour was largely thought a mark of social marginalisation. Those who had to work in order to earn their way in the world, rather than live off the wealth of their assets, were often considered second-class citizens. The distinctive achievement of Keynesian policies in the postwar period was transforming wage labour into a card for membership of the middle class. ...property inflation over time eroded the distinctive achievement of the Keynesian era: the possibility of buying a home on the basis of a wage alone. In many large cities, it is now virtually impossible to break into the property market if you earn an average, or even above-average, salary.”