The OP article is also just so, so obviously AI slop... if you're already thinking "this is probably AI" and pangram thinks the same, that's fairly damning.
You're making a strong statement about the counterfactual here; how could you know? Clearance rates for most crimes in the US are abysmal, the expected outcome for most crimes is "unsolved."
This is straight up AI generated economic disinformation. Are you seriously claiming that computers cost more in real terms today than 20 years ago?? Some of these goods (housing) do cost more, but a lot of these examples don't make any sense.
Companies soliciting big bounties should charge a fee to submit, making slop costly. Steam, the video game publisher, does this. Developers need to pay a fee to list their game, and if their game sells sufficient volume, the fee is returned. Creating a separating equilibrium here is not hard, the hand wringing is weird to me.