Regarding economics, the economist Paul Krugman was the first to say it, in an essay in 1994, when he suggested that the slowdown in Japan might reveal what was going to happen to all other advanced nations. It was an idea he then developed over several years, in a series of essays, and then finally when his predictions came true, he came out with a book on the subject:

https://www.amazon.com/Return-Depression-Economics-Crisis-20...

It was more a thing people said in the 80s