Well, he spends a lot of time at the beginning of the book distantiating himself from any theory of inevitability.

Of course, the fact that he observes the same thing everywhere can point towards structural issues. But we have had a worldwide movement towards freedom of capital, which is a policy choice with major consequences for the relative bargaining power of labour and wealth.
Also, the Eastern bloc collapsed at about the same time, unions had been weakened, the memory of the war aftermath was getting lost... All that seem to have helped a general movement of policy rightwards. With the consequences that we see.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi