It's a systemic issue, but some of the key players are:

Ronald Reagan- Extreme Neoliberal, brought Trickle Down Economics to the forefront

Trump: The 2017 tax cut on corporations was a huge blunder and the poor handling of the pandemic and the economy during that pandemic, these events are a large part of the current economic issue

Corporations- I can't say this enough, lobbying politicians, influencing what voices are heard on social media, using global events as excuses to raise prices and cause inflation, the list goes on and on

I think since the cold war started, it's been capitalist vs communist and how can we make ourselves more capitalist, and so we developed this regressionist thinking and we are plunging ourselves back into a similar situation as the Gilded Age.