Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea are collectively called the “Asian Tigers” because they have experienced high rates of economic growth throughout the second-half of the twentieth century. These countries were able to achieve rapid economic growth through a series of measures. They all encouraged competition between different businesses and countries; Hong Kong and Singapore became global centers of international finance; Taiwan and South Korea became global centers of information technology. In the twenty-first century all four nations have strong economies, a well-educated population, and are much wealthier than many of their bigger neighbors.

The Marshall Plan was enacted in 1948 and was designed to rebuild the economies of post-war Western Europe to prevent the spread of communism. It also involved the removal of trade barriers and the restructuring of European industry.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first US President to utilize anti-trust law to help breakup large companies in the United States. He brought more than 40 antitrust suits to some of America's largest companies, including US Steel and Standard Oil. 

The Asian Tigers were made up of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, and saw economic growth rates of up to 7% from the 1960s to the 1990s. They rapidly transformed into the sophisticated industrialized powers that we are familiar with today. 

France started trying to build the Canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate (due, among other things, to tropical diseases). When the US took control, Panama was under control of Colombia. Colombia did not give it permission for the US to build, so Teddy Roosevelt supported the Panamanian rebels who were seeking independence, even going so far as to block Colombian troops as they were trying to get into Panama to suppress the rebel movements.  In 1903, Panama declared its independence and granted the US the rights to the Canal Zone shortly thereafter. 

Japan’s Twenty-One Demands of China essentially guaranteed Japan would have access to and control over Chinese markets and the Chinese economy. Britain and the United States opposed these demands and feared that Japan would interfere with British and American trading interests and spheres of influence in mainland China.

The Panama Canal was constructed between 1904 and 1914 by the United States Navy, crossing 48 miles of land to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. France began the project in the 1880s, but never completed it due to high worker fatality: The project cost tens of thousands of lives between the French and American engineering efforts, mostly from mosquito-borne diseases like Yellow Fever and Malaria. 

The United States was considering building the canal in Nicaragua before taking over the French project. Despite being a much wider country, Nicaragua was more closely influenced by the United States at the time.

The Panama Canal was finished in 1914, and from that date until 1999 it was owned and operated by the government of the United States.

The correct answer is "protectionist policies increased" because the opposite is generally thought to be true. Protectionism refers to the use of tariffs, quotas, and other government regulations to restrict trade in an effort to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. Protectionism is less prevalent today than it was a century ago.

Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea are collectively called the “Asian Tigers” for their rapid economic growth during the second-half of the twentieth century.