Taru Pld's are (ad always will be) the damn B00tsiest thing ever...except maybe a small size taru in full dnc af >.>
The economy is smaller, no doubt. A lot of it stammed from rmt counter measures, but I think another big piece has been the sheer about of really good rare/ex gear. If you've been around for years now, most people already pwn the expensive stuff, or the rare/ex equivalent.
Anyhoo, its not like you can't make gil anywhere, that isn't accurate at all. It is still quite possible to make a good ffxi living by just farming like crazy (which is what I do 90% of the time as I've done forever.) Just don't expect to make a mil in a day, its not likely to happen unless you hit the lotto with a lucky NM.