John Smith’s map of Virginia, engraved by William Hole and published in 1612. Public domain.
In November 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and a closed set of economies started to open.
If money is tight, a distant wall matters if your work depends on a defense plant or a new export.
If you are in the middle, the promise of a peace dividend is a budget argument, not a check.
If you have savings, new markets are a story for capital before they are a story for wages.
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall opened.
The economic meaning was a larger field for trade and a smaller reason for a permanent war economy.
What households would actually gain was not settled on the night the wall opened.
Source: Historical record of November 9, 1989.