For 3, once nylon had been discovered and proven useful, the race was on, given the supply of cheap oil (the main rawmaterial) post WWII, from the Arabian Gulf.
What appears to be happening is that rawmaterial producers like Russia and some of the oil producers in developing countries, are making a quiet but concerted effort to have a bigger share of the wealth which seems constantly to be radiating from the huge US economy.
Among the mutual fund groups that saw inflows this year as oil prices along with gold and silver have steadily climbed the charts are rawmaterial and commodity-related funds.