in the late 1980s and early 1990s, republican president ronald reagan brought the cold war to an end. this was due to the russian leader mikhail gorbachev starting a policy called perestroika, the fall of the berlin wall, and the soviet union breaking into different countries. around this time, the united states cut down on its production of cheap goods, and had many people working in service jobs. part of these service jobs were in computers and the internet, which came into wide use in the 1990s. by this time, the united states had a very large trade deficit, meaning it received more goods from other countries, such as china, than it sent to other countries.