[Publius]

I wonder if they will replace the dated "railroad" and "Reardon steel" model for something more up-to-date. It it is the near future, she could represent a major airline and he could represent Boeing and a hypersonic transport.

Oh God, I hope not.

The book was written from 1947 to 1957. The "present" conjured up by the book represents Rand's vision of an America where the rightward turn in the 1946 elections never happened. Imagine someone like Congressman Vito Marcantonio of New York (a communist agent) or former vice president Henry Wallace as the Democratic president who succeeded FDR, and you'll get the picture Rand wanted to create.

Her version of the Fifties showed an America where all technological progress had stopped because of the heavy hand of government. It's this barren, depressed and repellent Fifties America that a good production designer has to create. My model would be "Streets of Fire".

[RobRoy]

Wow! I could almost imagine a Harry Turtledove sort of thing where the scenario you depict is exactly what happened. Great idea!