I very much agree with the assertion that our economy is getting less dynamic, in the sense that everywhere you go in the US it seems like everything, and i mean everything, is being steamrolled by bigger and bigger corps and morphed into a bland, dumbed down, mass appealing corporate monoculture, designed (probably by MBAs) exclusively with profits in mind and no actual interest in developing any sort of soul or true differentiation. Random example, walk into a hardware store (everywhere you go its either lowes, home depot, or maybe ace, cross country) and tell me if there's a real difference between any of the tool manufacturers. On the one hand, the convenience of cheap and fairly durable goods is great. On the other, it seems like everyone is afraid to stray too far from what works to really innovate or compete. Most cars look pretty similar. The same restaurants exist literally from coast to coast, everywhere you go the US is starting to look more and more generic.

Mostly it probably has to do with economies of scale, but at this point I'd rather spend an extra 10%+ on goods and services if it meant a return to true differentiation and a wider variety of consumer culture.