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The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Review
The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman’s account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before—creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman’s travels around the world and across the American heartland—from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt. In The World Is Flat, Friedman at once shows “how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive” (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. More than ever, The World Is Flat is an essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists. User Submitted The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century ReviewsNovember 30, 2008 Leveling of the Playing Field Friedman has taken the different trends towards globalization and connected the dots to form a coherent view of a flat world. Flat is a metaphor indicating that the playing field has become leveled. He describes the events leading to the creation of such a flat playing field. And how countries like China and India used this to their advantage. As many assumed, Globalization did not stop with the dot com bust in 2000. In fact, it strengthened because of that. The dot com boom resulted in an over investment in fiber optics resulting in excessive bandwidth which benefited India. This enabled outsourcing of work from US and Europe to India. He uses comparisons on how, earlier in the last century, US was the second buyer of India's brains resulting in the drain of top professionals. Now, India became a second buyer of the excess telecom capacity to set up an outsourcing industry. India also gained a foothold by doing lot of Y2K work. That work required an army of tedious and skilled programmers. A shortage of programming resources for that task in the West, coupled with an unmovable deadline, led to a global search for such resources. Work that can be easily digitized and transferred to lower wage locations is fungible. Non-fungible jobs cannot be outsourced. Some jobs are anchored like barber, plumber etc. David Ricardo the English Economist developed the free trade theory of comparative advantage. Low end jobs in one country are high end jobs in another country, which will be done by more motivated people and would be more productive. After Deng Xiaoping laid the foundation for building China as a manufacturer to the world, the entry into WTO in 2001 was a watershed event. With containerization of shipping, the costs of transportation have fallen to a very low value. The geography does not matter much. Proximity to US was a big advantage Mexico had before. Now it has vanished. China has replaced Mexico as the second biggest importer into US. Canada is the biggest. Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. Of late, these statues are being made in China. Egyptians use colored lanterns called fawanis to carry candles inside them during the Ramadan. Now these lanterns have started coming from China. While India has an advantage of a democracy, large number of college graduates, and an English speaking workforce, China has a low cost labor economy needed for an efficient manufacturing base. For example, Dalian in China is an outsourcing area for Japanese engineering firms. Japanese occupation of China during the early part of the last century left many Chinese able to speak and work using Japanese. Friedman talks about the success of Walmart's business model. Unlike other retailers, Walmart buys directly from the manufacturers, as opposed to the wholesalers. They have their own distribution centers for distribution to the individual stores. Manufacturers do not have the necessary logistics to distribute the goods to every store. By cutting on the wholesalers, and investing in its own logistics and a real time computerized inventory system, it cut costs. The suppliers can directly access Walmart's sytems to get a picture of the inventory and the forecasted demand. This created more efficiencies in the supply chain where the suppliers are all over the flat world and so are the consumers. Finally, Friedman quotes from Bill Gates "I would like to be born as a Genius in China than an average person in Poughkeepsie". Friedman's mother told him in his childhood to finish his dinner as people in China and India are hungry. Now he tells his daughters to finish their home work as people in India and China are hungry for their jobs. November 29, 2008 Excellent information but less than fun to read. The book is excellent. Friedman describes the way globalization started and where we are now. He has obviously done his homework on the subject. The only (minor) complaint I have is that there were times when I felt like I was being beaten over the head with anecdotal evidence. Enough! I get it! Let's move on! November 23, 2008 It Is Your Responsibility as a Human Being to Read this Book and Make a Difference in The World Thomas Friedman brilliantly shows how the forces of globalization have connected the world in ways never possible before. The walls, ceilings, and even floors that once separated people, societies, and countries have been flattened out. Now, a single individual has more power than any other time in history. We must make use of all these new possibilities to succeed in a world that is more competitive and more challenging than ever before. You have to establish a competitive advantage that differentiates you from the rest of this world. If you don't, you can't survive. This next 50 years are the most crucial time in the history of our time. We have the opportunity to end poverty, diseases, wars, ignorance, greed, and hunger. If we don't succeed in creating a NEW world where people live in harmony with nature and with each other, we don't have a chance as a species. It is your responsibility as a human being to be accountable for yourself and your world. November 22, 2008 Simplifies the complex, much to its undoing Over a thousand reviews posted for a single book are bound to reflect a variety of opinions. But few books can elicit the repetitive and inconsistent nods present here. Most of these reviews fall into two groups: the first classifies this book as well-written and highly informative; the second classifies it as too verbose and oversimplified. I have to say, both groups are right. They are right because I found myself reflecting both sentiments as I read the book. The first four chapters of the book recount the rise of globalization and the forces behind it. This accounts for about the first third of the book's pages, and I found its packaging of the complex forces behind globalization to be highly informative and easy to understand. The remaining two thirds of the book attempts to use the first third to put the world's actors into context. More specifically, it attempts to describe how globalization is affecting individuals, the companies they work in, and the countries they live in. Then it outlines what the author sees as necessary changes for keeping them all competitive. It was in this part where the author's simplified approach to globalization undermined his purpose. Recognizing this effect, the author likely felt he needed to buttress his proposals with more support. Unfortunately, his effort to do so droned on without adding much substance. Here is where the book's packaging fell apart. And hence, this is why the reviewers here feel the way they do. For those who liked the author's proposed solutions, the momentum of the first part of the book likely carried them through to the end. For those who didn't, their enthusiasm likely waned and they quickly lost interest. Which will you be? I don't know. Take the time to read the first four chapters, but don't feel guilty if you set the book aside long before you reach the end. November 22, 2008 The globalism he praises may bite us all in the a**. Now that the US is going through a terrible recession, we are going to regret that we outsourced all our production to other countries just to save a buck (NOT out of the kindness of our hearts to help India or China), leaving an anemic service industry that isn't going to be enough when the dollar weakens and imports become expensive. Then we will have to start making our own stuff, and by then we will be starting out from scratch, and it will take years to recover. Thanks a lot, globalization. November 19, 2008 A Book That Will Prepare You For The New World Whether you are a newly college grad, a cashier from Wal-Mart or you just got laid off by CitiGroup, take some time and read this book. It will give you a brand new perspective of how companies run their business today; it will probably make you realized how incompetent you actually are in a flat world. But at least you will finally be able to have a intellectual talk with your friends while you are in a bar. In "The World Is Flat", Friedman talks about how he realized that the world is actually flat on a trip to Bangalore, India. From the fall of Berlin Wall to the raise of search engine and personal digital devices, Friedman explains how each major events and inventions from the nineties to the twenty-first century contributed to the flattening of the world. Friedman also talks about how government, companies, and individuals should deal with this flat world. The last part of the book, Friedman examines the impact of globalization on cultures and countries, ending the book with a strong emphasis on imagination as the key to survive in this new world. Be prepared, "The World Is Flat" might come as a shock to many readers. Friedman is revealing a side of business we, as ordinary shoppers, have never seen or even imagined before. Freidman makes many great points in this book, and for every points, he also backs it up with real life examples. The most interesting examples I find is how UPS is actually running the backroom operation for many big companies, repairing computers for Toshiba and fulfilling shoe orders for Nike. The structure of the book is very clear and understandable; it follows the path of cause, effect, and response. While reading the book, my suggestion is always take some time to reflect what Friedman says with your own experience; this will make the book a lot more interesting and enjoyable. After all, it is 600+ pages long. Friedman makes a lot of good points in this book; but bewares, some of his points are very subjective. When reading a book, never take the author's points or opinions as given; think them over in your own mind, reflect them to your own experience. Writers are not always right. When Friedman talks about one point, and you come up with a counterfactual, you just doubled the learning and acquired a broader perspective. Also, Friedman often provides excessive examples in this book. He often goes on and on about one thing and the whole reading experience could be jeopardized. Sometimes one example is enough, why tell us three more. If you understand what he's talking about, skip to the next topic, or else you will never be able finish the book. In conclusion, "The World Is Flat" is a great book to read, especially at this time. With the current speed of technological breakthrough, people need to be on their toes and always be prepared for the unimaginable. A flat world means more people are competing with you, but it also means more opportunity to thrive. Whoever can adapt the fastest gets ahead. November 17, 2008 Approachable for all readers, essential for understanding our flat world. This book should be on everyones "must read" list I found the first section (263 pages) difficult to plow through - I come from a software / engineering background and found the techie speak in the first section dry. Understandably this book was written for a broad audience, and this section was a prerequisite for the remainder of the book as it brings the reader up to speed on globalization and the events that have contributed to today's flattened world. Once through the first section the text picks up it's pace, and reads like a novel as Friedman's prose weaves experiences, concerns, research, and philosophy together. Globalization effects everyone and everyone should read this fantastic book. November 14, 2008 Friedman is a True Patriot! My father recommended this book to me and although it is so long that when people saw me reading it asked me if it was the Bible, it is the most important book that I've read in at least the last three years. Friedman displays unbelievable foresight, simplicity and understanding of the complex world that we live in and gives his best effort to inform anyone who is smart enough to realize how important it is to be prepared for the technological revolution that is currently underway. I find myself citing this book at least a few times per week and couldn't stress enough how important it is, especially for people under 30 to read an understand everything contained within it. November 13, 2008 Verbose, Monotonous, Nothing new to learn... I was very disappointed after reading this book. May be I am not the right audience for this book, I did not learn anything new from this book. Found it very boring. November 9, 2008 Never got the book I thought I had bought the book but received CDs instead ... Judging by the picture I should have gotten the book... I hate the CDs !!!!! I couldn't even finish listening to the first one. For more The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century reviews click here.
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