The quality of everything has gone to pot and, of course, that fact does not show up in the inflation numbers in any meaningful way.

I purchased a dresser from Restoration Hardware back in 2001 as a recent grad and it's quality is unbelievable by todays standards: dovetail joinery, excellent wood, etc. Now I go and look at furniture and I'd have to spend (what I consider to be, lol) a car's worth of money for anything close to it.

I will only buy "antique" furniture, for precisely this reason. When we were looking for a house, I prioritized homes built before 1933 (when asbestos materials became widely used). We bought a house built in 1929, and the materials and workmanship are phenomenally good. It wasn't like a custom build or anything, either: the surrounding three blocks were built at the same time by the same developer, and they were originally owned by working-class families. It's just, as you say, everything has got worse.