Thomas Friedman is one of the few pundits out there these days who I feel doesn't simply approach his subjects from the right or the left. Though a NY Times Op Ed writer and considered generally liberal in most cases he actually supported the Iraq war in the beginning and as he explains in this book, doesn't think outsourcing is necessarily a bad thing. Of course one of the ideas he brings up is that in this changing world, it's not even clear anymore where the right and the left should stand on issues like this one.
More after the jump...
The World is Flat is basically a sequel to a book Friedman wrote pre-9/11, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. In that book he explored the then burgeoning globalization phenomenon and it's effects on different parts of the world. 9/11 distracted him a bit from this subject but now he returns to it, exploring the state of globalization in a post-9/11 world. By saying that the world is becoming flat, Friedman believes that the playing field is being levelled and the U.S. is now in direct competition with places like Bangalore, Hong Kong, and Bombay. Though many jobs are being taken away from Americans and heading overseas and the US is losing it's standing as the only economic superpower, is this a bad thing for the world? Is it even a bad thing for America in the long run? How is it actually making the world more stable and us safer? What can Americans and other countries do to keep up with the changing economy?
Friedman explains that there are two important dates that have shaped the world during this globalization age. One of course is 9/11. The other is, ironically 11/9 - the date the Berlin Wall fell. 11/9 opened up the world, and 9/11 closed it back up a little.
Among the interesting aspects of the flat world theme that Friedman explores are: the astounding number and sheer diversity of jobs that are now done in far-off places like Bangalore for American companies; how the Y2K scare was the best thing that ever happened to the Indian economy; how Wal-Mart has revolutionized retail distribution while damaging worker rights; how Netscape, Apache and the open source movement changed every aspect of the world as we know it.
It's a big subject that affects all of us, and Friedman explains it very well.
By the way, I listened to this book on my iPod. My audiobook of the month from audible.com. I definitely recommend the service.
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How long did it take to listen to this? The only audible.com purchase I've made was "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live." It was close to 700 pages, and I seem to recall it lasted every minute of a 15-hour trip from New Jersey to Atlanta in New Year's Day traffic.
18 hours. If you're in the car as much as I am these days it's a nice way to make the commute go by. For like $14 a month you get one book and one radio or newspaper subscription. I'm listening to Freakonomics now. 6 hours for that one.
Audible is subscription-only, right? I can't just browse in and pick up a few books without having to remember to call and cancel my account? Why is that? Feels so Columbia House-y.
You can buy individual books but they're ridiculously expensive. It pays to do the subscription and cancel whenever you want, that way you also get a radio or newspaper sub. So I get one book (which depending on the lenght pretty much lasts a month) and an episode of This American Life every week. What bugs me about it is the selection is pretty shallow and a lot of the books are abridged versions which I steer clear of.