Whilst our 'borders' were flung far and wide to the detriment of vast areas of the world...Twasn't. Prices of goods rose very little throughout the entire 1800s, when we were able to make our own stuff, behave ourselves, control our borders and had no bottomless pit free handout institutions such as the NHS or the welfare state.
And stuff we 'made' came courtesy of plundered resources which somehow meant that the 'wealth' found it's way into a very few pockets...
Rather funny that the west in general (and the UK in particular) are finding that payback is a b*tch!