Average car price is a dumb metric. Cars are, on average, a lot nicer than they used to be, and people are proportionally paying more for fancier stuff. Would you rather have a 1989 $15k [new price] car in mint condition or a 2009 car you bought for $15k [even ignoring all inflation]? The amount of maintenance needed on 90% of models has dropped precipitously. Furthermore, the minimum wage has more than doubled in that period.
I certainly agree that banks causing huge problems; growth in the financial sector past a certain point of maturity is deleterious for the rest of the economy.
The world isn't such a big place anymore given how decisions of a random engineer (say, me) in Illinois can affect workers in Cambodia. I think it's not too far-fetched to think of humanity as my 'immediate community.' We certainly have many very shameful interactions with 'people far away' but to think that leaving them alone is going to be best for them rather insults their ability to participate in a global market.