High paid workers became less desirable. Factories were moved to undeveloped nations. The wealthy made their money by trading corporate stock and other forms of speculation. The poor moved into the service industry. The Knowledge Economy Various factors created the conditions from which the knowledge economy emerged.
Technology has the nature that it builds upon itself at an accelerating rate.
Further stimulating this geometric rise was the Cold War and its associated arms race. The Western and Easter Blocs invested ever increasing portions of their GDP into the development of advanced weaponry and symbolic endeavors such as the space race. Proxy wars, such as the war in Vietnam, drove more and more of the young into universities where they could escape conscription. The combination of accelerated investment in technology and the increase in university students pushed technological advancement to the edge of chaos. Huge leaps were made in computer technology.