~Flashback 1988~

US and Canada reach free trade agreement (Jan. 2). Background: NAFTA

Pan-Am 747 explodes from terrorist bomb and crashes in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on ground (Dec. 21).

US Navy ship shoots down Iranian airliner in Persian Gulf, mistaking it for jet fighter; 290 killed (July 3).

Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $5,049.60 billion
Federal spending: $1064.14 billion
Federal debt: $2601.3 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $27,225
Consumer Price Index: 118.3
Unemployment: 5.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.22 ($0.25 as of 4/3/88)

Events

• Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households have at least one television set.
• CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time.
• Ted Turner starts Turner Network Television (TNT) and buys MGM's film library

• Movies

• Rain Man, Mississippi Burning, A Fish Called Wanda, Bull Durham