This is what happens when supply side overwhelms demand side. I remember in my teens, a person who graduated highschool with a modicum of technical aptitude could get hired as an entry level engineer in electronics, manufacturing, automotive etc. No longer the case. They won't even hire you for dog catcher with that background.
The whole world could live in Texas. It's a failure of the people in leadership positions and who control the resources to create a game where everyone can find a fulfilling role to play. Instead its rent seeking and actively blocking the game from changing because that would risk their wealth.
No, it's just that desperately needed, useful work goes undone(and the people who would have otherwise done it go unemployed) because the market doesn't incentivize it.
No, but we did move all the entry-level work overseas as a response to the successes of the civil rights movement. See also: Detroit, Camden, Gary, etc.
Falling population leads to cheaper housing, higher wages, less congestion for government services and infrastructure.
More affordable housing is a major factor in fertility rates, so eventually the population just finds a stable equilibrium.
Increasing population leads to the opposite - the elites are the ones pushing for mass-immigration, since they benefit from rising land prices and lower wages.
Prosperity IMHO means a growth in per-capita wealth. On the other hands, "the elites" may prefer a growth in total wealth (since part of that growth accumulates to them) through a population increase even if it comes at the cost of decrease in per-capita wealth for the actual society.
