International Man: According to a recent study by Investopedia, the classic middle-class American Dream now costs over $3.4 million.

That's the estimated lifetime cost of marriage, two children, cars, homes, healthcare, education, and retirement. It's now entirely out of reach for many Americans.

What do you make of this? How did this happen?

Doug Casey: The fact is, despite the fact that his standard of living has been slipping over the past 50 years, the average American today lives much better and longer than a king during pre-industrial times. There were never any guarantees that Americans would live in the lap of luxury for their entire lives.

We got to this high standard of living for two reasons. One, people tended to produce more than they consumed and saved the difference. And two, technology has been improving at almost the rate of Moore's law for the last 200 years.

However, there's no guarantee that either of these fonts of progress will continue, especially since savings are being wiped out by the destruction of the dollar. A lack of savings means there won't be a capital pool to finance further advances in technology.