Best-selling books such as Japan as Number One warned of Japanese dominance. The PBS series Frontline aired the documentary “Losing the War to Japan.” Silicon Valley looked spent after U.S. producers exited the market for memory chips such as DRAM.

Having stuttered their way to FIFA World Cup qualification, Brazil are now hoping to move through the gears with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm. A fifth-place finish in the CONMEBOL table has facilitated plenty of angst in a football-crazy nation,