Good luck telling people their living standards are going to fall. Growth is not at all unsustainable by its nature. That’s a completely ahistorical take. You also don’t need more people for growth, because it’s per capita that matters.
Overall though, I don’t really want to live in a country preserved in aspic for older generations because we refuse to build anything. I like innovation. I like new stuff. It leads to better lives than the old stuff.
It's not about telling them their living standards are about to fall, it's about highlighting that a select few are seeing huge increases to their living standards whilst the vast majority are not.
I don't want a country preserved in aspic either. There's a load of stuff I want to change to make living conditions better. I get pissed off with listed buildings and their stupid list of things people can't do in order to preserve them. Often those buildings at the time were at the forefront of innovation and new technology. Those owners nowadays they'd have solar panels, super efficient windows and lighting, top grade internet etc. fitted as a way of showing of their wealth and showing off.
I know we need lots and lots of houses. I just also know we can't just build them anywhere without huge potential problems with drainage etc. I also value the need for green and blue space within housing for both physical and mental health. I'd happily see brownfield built on and convert numerous old industrial areas and retail/ business parks to residential.
But this has got away from the original point about pre-crash growth forecasts and post. Pre-crash growth was build on a bed of sand. Unrealistic credit such as sub-prime mortgages and the financial instruments based on them, allowed by lax regulation of the finance industry creating what were in effect ponzi schemes.