What do you presume had happened to get the U.S. corporations and workers to take their eyes off of their own economic interest? It seems the "carrot" of cheaper prices were dangled in front of them, but they didn't perceive the "sucker punch" of occupational layoffs that was inevitable in its wake. After all, we did, and do have economists such as Alan Greenspan, and now Ben Bernanke, who watch economic trends and make known their predictions.