Economic theory is based on the underlying assumption that the first world will continue to be effectively subsidized by the third world which keeps the price of manufactured goods in the first world affordable, generating sales and supporting respectable GDPs even though many first world nations carry remarkably unsustainable debt loads as do many of their citizens. Should the cost of labor in third world nations suddenly increase, the entire house of cards would fall apart because our debt-based economies are predicated on a predictable rate of spending. If the cost of manufactured goods suddenly became much more expensive, people would stop buying as many, which would create a domino effect on related industries and result in less spending, thus less borrowing. People might start saving, which is ruinous because then there is less money circulating. The economy would shrink.
https://www.workableeconomics.com/th...based-economy/