Construction in the USA is driven by capitalism. From my own observations, a big part of why we build less in recent times is the real estate market crash in 2008. We're still feeling the effects.

The construction companies (and capital) that survived the crash of 2008 were a lot more cautious. They hired and built less through the 2010's as the market recovered. More people got college degrees instead of learning construction trades. When the pandemic hit, and there was something of a boom in construction, I think they finally shook off the fear. Now, a few years later, the market is beginning to slump again due to high interest rates and general inflation.