10.5 Globalization, Technology and a Changing Society

Notes

• Globalization: growing connections among the world's economies through trade, investment, travel and communication. The World Trade Organization (1995) set global trade rules.
• Many factory jobs moved overseas (outsourcing), while service and technology jobs grew.
• Personal computers spread in the 1980s. The World Wide Web (introduced in 1991) made the internet part of daily life by the late 1990s. Cell phones followed; the iPhone (2007) began the smartphone era.
• The dot-com boom of the late 1990s ended in a stock crash in 2000 to 2001.
• Immigration grew, especially from Latin America and Asia, making the nation more diverse. Debates over illegal immigration and border security intensified.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) banned discrimination against people with disabilities and required access to public places.
• The population shifted toward the Sun Belt (the South and Southwest).