Environmental Impact Growing As the world becomes more and more addicted to oil to fuel growth, there are tell-tale warnings of planetary blowback. Experts are increasingly worried that booming worldwide growth is resulting in a troublesome increase in industrial byproducts, which tend to trap warmth caused by sunlight. The result is gradual global warming, with 1988 setting a new record high. President Clinton joins most of the rest of the world in signing the historic Kyoto Protocol in 1977, which attempts to curb industrial emissions.

	Globalists in Control By the mid-1990s, a new surge of global awareness has penetrated deeply into the thinking of economic planners. They champion a reduction of anything that impedes world trade, which is seen as the magic that produces economic efficiency. The new World Trade Organization (WTO) is created to be the traffic cop. In America, Clinton signs a new 'NAFTA' trade pact with neighboring Canada and Mexico, to reduce trade restrictions. Meanwhile, giant global corporations are moving their industrial production to low-cost Asian countries. 'Globalists' are eager to exploit the 30-50% reduction in labor costs that can be achieved by shutting down aging American factories, and building new ones in Asia. This is called 'offshoring.'
	Two Worlds With the new focus on global connections, it becomes increasingly obvious that the world has quietly drifted into a polarized condition. Almost all the global wealth is concentrated in the north. The unequal distribution of oilfields on the planet is mirrored by a similar pattern in the location of coal fields. Over time, this has resulted in a lop-sided pattern of industrial development. With abundant fuels, industrial cities have developed almost everywhere in the Global North, while Africa is dominated by a barren desert of sand in the north, and a matching industrial desert in the south. A similar imbalance exists in global power. The Americans have an outsized share, while the Global south has only the income from exported Mideast oil.
	Digital Big Bang Suddenly, in 1995, the world is transformed by a seismic event. The arrival of the internet. At first, it's little more than a resource for academics, but soon enough balloons into global prominence, adopted by corporations at every level. This is a huge boost to corporate globalists, who no longer have to rely on satellites, or undersea cables, to maintain communication with their distant facilities. Suddenly, they're all part of a single vast organism, with instant delivery of information, and data. This concentrates the ability of global giants to extract wealth from every corner of the planet, sending it directly to a handful of financial capitals. New York, London and Paris now form an elite club sucking up the bulk of world output. Beijing will soon join the club.
	Fun, Games and Spreadsheets Big mainframe computers helped astronauts return safely from the moon, 30 years earlier. Since then, large corporations have used them to manage their complex internal accounting, in their own private data centers. But the new desktop computers ramp innovation up several notches, by distributing computer power to every desktop. It's difficult to overstate the effect this has on human ingenuity. Not only is it now much easier to communicate with friends, but corporate managers can now oversee entire global production networks from their office chair. Centralized control is the name of the game. Slowly, corporations learn to leverage new network-enabled software to micro-manage workers, in a relentlessly performance-driven workplace.
	Fun at Home Meanwhile, the digital age also livens up everyday life for Americans in their own homes. Video disk rentals become an essential ingredient of evening entertainment, while ESPN is now delivering NFL football directly into living rooms, via cable. Music-lovers are treated to the fabulous new world of music videos, thanks to MTV. Predictably, all this enthusiasm spawns a fresh wave of mergers and acquisitions, as corporations scramble to lock up the seemingly endless potential of digital processing.