1082 ★ CHAPTER 27 From Triumph to Tragedy
labor conditions, and the environment, and greater investment in health and
education in poor countries. The Battle of Seattle placed on the national and
international agendas a question that promises to be among the most pressing
concerns of the twenty- first century— the relationship between globalization,
economic justice, and freedom.
The economy’s performance in the 1990s at first seemed to justify the
claims of globalization’s advocates. After recovery from the recession of
1990–1991, economic expansion continued for the rest of the decade. By 2000,
unemployment stood below 4 percent, a figure not seen since the 1960s. The
boom became the longest uninterrupted period of economic expansion in the
nation’s history. Because Reagan and Bush had left behind massive budget defi-
cits, Clinton worked hard to balance the federal budget— a goal traditionally
associated with fiscal conservatives. Since economic growth produced rising
tax revenues, Clinton during his second term not only balanced the budget but
actually produced budget surpluses.
The Computer Revolution
Many commentators spoke of the 1990s as the dawn of a “new economy,” in
which computers and the Internet would produce vast new efficiencies and the
production and sale of information would occupy the central place once held
by the manufacture of goods. Computers had first been developed during and
after World War II to solve scientific problems and do calculations involving
enormous amounts of data. The early ones were extremely large, expensive,
and, by modern standards, slow. Research for the space program of the 1960s
spurred the development of improved computer technology, notably the min-
iaturization of parts thanks to the development of the microchip on which cir-
cuits could be imprinted.
Microchips made possible the development of entirely new consumer prod-
ucts. Videocassette recorders, handheld video games, cellular phones, and dig-
ital cameras were mass- produced at affordable prices during the 1990s, mostly
in Asia and Latin America rather than the United States. But it was the com-
puter that transformed American life. Beginning in the 1980s, companies like
Apple and IBM marketed computers for business and home use. As computers
became smaller, faster, and less expensive, they found a place in businesses of
every kind. In occupations as diverse as clerical work, banking, architectural
design, medical diagnosis, and even factory production, they transformed the
American workplace. They also changed private life. By the year 2000, nearly
half of all American households owned a personal computer, used for enter-
tainment, shopping, and sending and receiving electronic mail. Centers of com-
puter technology, such as Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, the Seattle and
Austin metropolitan areas, and lower Manhattan, boomed during the 1990s.