Foreseen..

"America is becoming poor .... it’s because America has become a land without substance. We let our manufacturing go. We don’t make things anymore. When you manufacture products, you add value to raw materials, and you literally create wealth. But America has stopped doing that. Americans make money now by paper manipulation, which the Japanese say is bound to catch up to us because paper profits don’t reflect real wealth. They think our fascination with Wall Street and junk bonds is crazy."

It is amazing that these words are from Michael Crichton's 1992 novel, Rising Sun. 1992, seriously.