In the last years of the 20th century, some economists argued that developments in information technology and globalization had given birth to a new economy (first, in the United States), which had a higher rate of productivity and growth than the old economy it replaced. Some went further, adding that in the new economy inflation was dead, the business cycle abolished and the traditional rules of economics were redundant. These claims were highly controversial. Other economists pointed out that similar predictions had been made during earlier periods of rapid technological change, yet the nature of economics was not fundamentally altered. With the bursting of the dotcom stock market bubble in 2000, the phrase fell into disuse, although productivity continued to soar, thanks not least to new technology, especially in the United States.