Apocalypse Then

There was a lot of talk leading up to Y2K, but it seems that everyone has forgotten about it by now. Slate's Farhad Manjoo has set out to find out whether the hysteria was a good thing or just a big waste of time and money:

How big a deal was Y2K? In the run-up to new century, the United States spent about $100 billion combating the bug—around $9 billion by the federal government, and the rest by utility companies, banks, airlines, telecommunications firms, and just about every other corporate entity with more than a few computers. The rest of the world was no slouch, either; estimates for global Y2K-readiness spending range from about $300 billion to $500 billion.

Read more about Y2K and how much it mattered here.