1980s: "Reaganomics," fiscal policies designed to stimulate the economy, result in a record number of corporate acquisitions, mergers, and liquidations, providing a means of greater wealth to the wealthy.

Today: Despite record deficit levels, President Bush runs on a 2004 election platform of tax cuts in order to create jobs, boost spending, and lift the markets.

1980s: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS is discovered by physicians and identified as an exclusively homosexual disease or "gay cancer."

Today: Researchers discover the source of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a species of chimpanzee living in western Africa.

1980s: On April 26, 1986, engineering experiments at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Soviet Union, lead to a disastrous atomic chain reaction resulting in approximately twenty-five thousand premature deaths.

Today: Proponents of nuclear power in the European Union fear that without reactors they will not reach their goal of reducing...