Japan and the so-called “Asian tiger” economies of South Korea and Taiwan became export powerhouses. Corporate giants such as Sony, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) churned out the electronic components that powered the digital revolution. Most important of all, China emerged as the workshop of the world. The country’s economy had boomed ever since the onset of market reforms under Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, and its expansion was now reaching dizzying speeds, with Chinese exports growing fivefold during the
