Coming from another angle, this might not be a "problem" when you consider the greater scheme of things.

Being able to obtain assets, when you don't have any is a relatively new thing, historically speaking. One could also say that we were living in a brave new world of opportunities and growth for a few centuries. And now we are returning to the historical norm. One thing that all the examples you listed is that they could be seen as "late game" economies.

I might be totally wrong, though. This is just another angle.