The 1980s (pronounced "nineteen-eighties", shortened to "the 80s" or "the Eighties") was a decade that began January 1, 1980 and ended December 31, 1989. The decade saw a dominance of conservatism and free market economics, and a socioeconomic change due to advances in technology and a worldwide move away from planned economies and towards laissez-faire capitalism compared to the 1970s. The 1980s saw the advent of the ongoing practice of sex-selective abortion in China and India as ultrasound technology permitted parents to selectively abort baby girls.