Domino

American companies poured billions into Thailand in the mid-1990s to utilize the country’s young, educated workforce. Investors saw the developing country as an economic fountain of youth, and Thai companies took advantage of a fixed exchange rate to borrow funds in US dollars. In time, the economy slowed, investments fell, and money began to leave the country putting pressure on the baht - Thailand’s currency. A savvy investor named George Soros watched the story unfold and made an untold fortune by betting billions against the collapse.

Proponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement described the trade deal as a win-win for everyone. Those in opposition argued that Mexico would be the only winner from the inflow of factories and jobs. Both sides were wrong. What was supposed to be a clear victory for Mexico turned out to be a nightmare with Mexican consumers abandoning local products in favor of American-made ones which sent the Mexican economy into a tailspin. The real winner? Arkansas based retailer and NAFTA proponent: Walmart.

In the 1980s, Japan was poised to become the next economic world leader. Books were written about their work ethic, financial innovation, and management styles. From luxury cars to VCRs, Japanese manufacturing was more efficient, more advanced, and frankly more profitable than American companies. For many economists, it was a near certainty that Japan would soon surpass the US as the largest economy in the world. But something strange happened. Japan’s hot economy suddenly turned south, their real estate market imploded, and their economic golden years crashed and burned. Now it looks as though Japan’s best days might just be behind them.

In a surprise move, President Nixon announces an abrupt end of the convertibility of the US dollar into gold. With the unbridled freedom to print money and spend, the country adopts a more-loose-than-usual monetary policy that inadvertently spurs inflation. As the dollar weakens, concern mounts about the long-term viability of the dollar until Treasury Secretary William Simon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger strike monumental deals with Saudi Arabia and OPEC to secure the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold-story-behind-saudi-arabia-s-41-year-u-s-debt-secret

Politicians developed a metric known as GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, during the depths of the Great Depression to help measure the strength of the economy. GDP become something of a scoreboard for countries around the world and gave politicians a measure stick to gauge the impact of policy decisions. In time, increasing GDP became a national obsession and drives decision making for our leaders today.