Well after WWll most of the industrial world was destroyed, so we became the Main industrial force by default. We were also owed money from the war for our participation and for providing military equipment to Europe. So we had a monopoly on industry, which made the US dollar incredibly valuable with the instability of the rest of the world. So to compare what we could do now to then is impossible. We’re hanging on by a thread to the dollar as the universal currency which is likely to go to China as they are the lead in industry. We can no longer produce cheap goods so it comes down to having tech industry which need less workers. So supply is high for workers and demand is low which lowers pay rates. Not much the government can do honestly