1911 China

Chinese Revolution topples Manchu dynasty, throwing China into economic chaos

1914 Europe

Terrorist assassination in Sarajevo triggers World War I; first era of economic globalization ends

1917 Russia

Russian Revolution leads to USSR, world's first socialist state

1919 France

Treaty of Versailles: Terms will lead to German economic collapse and rise of fascism

1922 Russia

Faced with economic disintegration, Lenin propounds "commanding heights" doctrine

1923 Germany

Hyperinflation destroys the German and Austrian middle class

1929 Russia

Stalin launches first Five-Year Plan to industrialize the Soviet Union

1929 United States

Stock market collapse sparks Great Depression and critique of unfettered markets

1933 Germany

Hitler becomes chancellor, later "Fuhrer"; Nazi economics favors command and control

1933 Italy

Mussolini's fascist government entrenches state ownership with IRI holding company

1933 United States

Bank failures result in 25 percent unemployment; Roosevelt becomes president; New Deal begins

1936 UK

Keynes publishes "General Theory," founds macroeconomics and new approach to managing capitalist economies

1939 Europe

WWII begins; state-dominated war economies prevail around Europe and U.S. after 1941

1944 UK

Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" criticizes economic planning by state, will influence only a minority for three decades

1944 United States

Bretton Woods Conference establishes World Bank, International Monetary Fund, pegs all currencies to gold

1945 Germany

Potsdam Conference divides Europe; Soviet-occupied countries will adopt command economies

1945 UK

Attlee/Labor Party victory starts nationalization of major industries, establishes welfare state

1946 France

Planning pioneered in non-command context, spurs mixed economy, "Thirty Glorious Years"

1947 Germany

U.S. implements Marshall Plan to avoid repeating WWI treaty mistake, sparks German economic "miracle"

1947 India

First major decolonization: India seeks to meld Western democracy and socialist planning

1947 Switzerland

Friedrich von Hayek creates Mt. Pélerin conference to combat economics of central planning

1948 Germany

Erhard defies Allies, abolishes price controls, succeeds in reviving market economy

1949 China

Communist revolution founds People's Republic of China; collectivization begins

1949 Europe

Coal and Steel Community unites six countries in free trade of key goods; first step toward European Union

1957 Italy

Treaty of Rome establishes European Economic Community

1958 China

Great Leap Forward attempts forced industrialization; will fail in two years, bringing misery

1961 South Korea

General Park coup launches state-driven fast industrialization

1964 United States

Johnson administration launches War on Poverty, expands social programs even as Vietnam War escalates

1966 China

Mao launches Cultural Revolution to radicalize People's Republic and purge intellectual resistance

1968 Czechoslovakia

Soviet tanks destroy Prague uprising, crushing "socialism with a human face"

1971 Tanzania

"Ujamaa" collectivist strategy for "African Socialism" is enforced; will fail, bringing deprivation

1971 United States

Nixon "goes Keynesian," but price and wage controls bring shortages instead of stopping inflation

1971 United States

Nixon abandons gold standard, ends Bretton Woods system, sparks modern currency markets

1973 Chile

Pinochet topples Allende; military regime makes things worse before turning to Chicago-style free-market reform

1973 Middle East

OPEC instigates oil crisis, triggering global inflation and vast wealth transfer to oil-producing nations

1974 UK

Coal miners' strike brings blackouts, forces election, Labor Party victory

1974 Sweden

Friedrich von Hayek awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics; Milton Friedman will follow in 1976

1975 UK

Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative Party with Keith Joseph seeks new economic vision

1978 UK

"Winter of Discontent" marks nadir of Keynesian economic policies in Britain

1978 China

Deng becomes principal leader, launches decollectivization in agriculture

1979 UK

Election of Margaret Thatcher starts "Thatcher revolution"

1979 Iran

Revolution turns against Westernization, offers Islamic alternative, sparks second oil shock

1979 United States

Inflation reaches 13.3 percent; Paul Volcker takes over Federal Reserve; tight-money policy triggers recession

1980 Poland

Solidarity movement begins in shipyards, will become main labor force in toppling communism

1981 France

Mitterrand election brings experiment with nationalization and "delinking"

1981 United States

President Reagan introduces supply-side economics, breaks air controllers' strike, deregulates markets

1982 Mexico

Default on international loans sparks global debt crisis and "lost decade" for developing nations

1983 France

"Relinking" and nationalization rollback ends experiment, sets tone for new European social democracy

1984 UK

First major privatization of a state-owned industry: British Telecom

1984 UK

Thatcher breaks the miners' union, closes money-losing mines, putting thousands out of work

1985 Bolivia

Rampant hyperinflation cured with radical market liberalization and reform, pioneering "shock therapy" method

1986 Russia

After becoming the USSR leader in 1985, Gorbachev begins Glasnost and Perestroika

1987 Europe

Single Market Act approved; next step forward to European Economic Union

1988 Japan

Japan "miracle" peaks as Tokyo Stock Exchange capitalization matches NYSE

1989 Germany

Berlin Wall comes down; "Iron Curtain" falls; Cold War ends

1990 Chile

Elected government replaces dictatorship, retains reforms despite misgivings about their origins

1990 Germany

Reunification restores Germany: market West must now assimilate socialist East

1990 Poland

"Shock therapy" used in Bolivia is repeated successfully in Poland; Walesa becomes president

1990 Japan

Japanese market bubble deflates; inertia blocks reform of banking system and subsidized domestic sector

1991 India

Prime Minister Narasimha Rao confronts payments crisis, begins major reform of "Permit Raj"

1991 Russia

USSR disintegrates: Russia is main successor state

1992 Russia

Price controls end; privatization of Russia's state industries begins

1992 China

Deng protects reforms from challenge with publicized "Southern journey" (nanxun)

1992 United States

NAFTA treaty passed over labor, environmental objections, launches decade of free-trade activism

1994 South Africa

Apartheid falls, ending closed economy; Mandela's socialist ANC launches market reforms

1994 United States

After health reform fails, Clinton refocuses on centrist "New Democrat" economic program, welfare reform, globalization

1994 Mexico

U.S. Treasury intervention staves off Mexican economic crisis, prevents default on international debt

1995 United States

Republican House "Contract with America" to reduce government brings budget impasse and backlash

1996 United States

Clinton balances budget, proclaims "Big government is over"

1997 UK

Tony Blair completes centrist remake of Labor Party with resounding election victory, reelected 2001

1997 China

Party congress endorses "Deng Xiaoping Theory," dismantling state-owned industrial sector

1997 Thailand

Speculative boom triggers run on Thai currency; ensuing collapse signals "end of Asian miracle"

1997 Indonesia

Spreading Asian crisis takes social, political toll in region's largest, poorest country; Suharto deposed

1997 South Korea

IMF and U.S. forced to organize bailout of South Korean banks to prevent further spread of Asian "contagion"

1998 Russia

International financial instability spreads to Russia, which defaults on international loans; ruble is devalued

1999 United States

Contagion reaches Wall Street: Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund fails, endangering banking system

1999 United States

Seattle WTO summit crystallizes potent global opposition to institutions and politics of global integration

2001 United States

Terrorist airliner attack destroys World Trade Center in New York City, rocks global financial markets

2001 Qatar

WTO meets in remote Qatar to initiate new round of global trade talks

2002 Europe

Euro replaces national currencies of Germany, France, and 10 other European nations

2002 Japan

Deep interest-rate cuts fail to revive economy; value of yen sinks to new low against other key currencies

2002 Argentina

Argentina defaults on billions in debt; social and political unrest leads to resignation of two presidents in two weeks

2002 United States

After WTC attacks, Bush reverses course, creates new agencies, reintroduces Keynesian methods

2002 South Africa

AIDS pandemic threatens economic future of most nations in sub-Saharan Africa