For the economy as a whole, abstracting away imports and exports, we can only eat what we sow.

This applies to the average Joe, too, by the nature of how averages work. (But might not apply to the median Joe.)

Yes, there's some pricing power for some people. And there's weird things like Baumol's cost disease. But those are second and higher order effects.

>For the economy as a whole, abstracting away imports and exports, we can only eat what we sow.

Exactly. And "we" after all is another abstraction. And "I" can eat what "you" sowed.

If corporations have record-high profits, while workers get stagnating salaries while housing prices raise, someone is going to realize what "we" entices after all.