1984: The British economy is just recovering from the depression of the 1970s. This new boom period is led by a group of young urban professionals, whose conspicuous consumption leads to the coining of the pejorative term "yuppie."

Today: The British economy went through a "boom and bust" cycle in the late-1980s and early-1990s but now seems more stable. All over the world people are speculating that the "new world order" has been accompanied by a shakedown in the economic system. In 1999, Europe took its final steps towards becoming an integrated economic system, while the Dow Jones Index (the primary indicator of the U.S. Stock Market) passed the 10,000 mark.

1984 After the success of the Falklands War in 1982, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher won her second general election and returned the Conservative party to power. She narrowly escapes death when an IRA bomb explodes...