phosphorus cannot be manufactured out of thin air. Its supply is limited to sources that can be mined in deposits that are unevenly spread around the Earth’s surface, and there are fears that its production is not only limited but may have peaked and will begin declining by 2030, although that scenario is highly debated.131

This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.”130

we have destroyed 83 percent of wild anima

a gamble that the fossil-fuel-consuming,

To be sure, the United States retains a powerful voice in the World Bank and the IMF as well as in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the leaders of the industrialized “G7” countries meet annually to coordinate global economic policy.

The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War was greeted with relief, celebration, and caution: relief for those who had fretted that the Cold War might turn hot; celebration by those committed to the imminent global triumph of the values associated with capitalism and democracy; and caution by those wary of the intent and actions of a United States unburdened by the Soviet threat.

Deep economic distress, political corruption, and weakening control from Moscow emboldened East European citizens to make public demonstrations that the state police and armies suddenly refused to suppress.

when the United States abandoned the gold standard and allowed the value of the dollar to “float,” which it did—down (intentionally, to devalue the dollar and make it possible to pay for oil imports). The U.S. economy was thrown into the horrors of an unexplainable “stagflation,” or economic stagnation and inflation, a combination that baffled economists.