That was supposed to be something that would stop happening when they developed too. The idea was that once they became rich they would liberalize and demand de

That was supposed to be something that would stop happening when they developed too. The idea was that once they became rich they would liberalize and demand democracy and it would just happen. I think Thomas Friedman was the poster boy for that idea but he was far from the only one pushing it. It really is wild looking at predictions about what would happen in the 1990s and comparing it to what did actually happen. It's even wilder seeing people repeat similar predictions and forgetting when theyve been made before.