 too simplistic though very good fairytale, 2007-12-22
Thomas Friedman charms the readers with his grand story of a fast changing world in a borderless life of business, wealth, competition and entrepreneurship. Interesting read, but his vision and messages are too narrow and even too simplistic. What is more, his knowledge about China and India and other parts of the world is less than profound. More serious readers should also read 2 other new books: 1. China's global reach; 2. China and the new world order, both by Chinese journalist/consultant George Zhibin Gu, which offers more dynamic and realistic insights on emerging China and India in relation to the established West.
 A Great Key to Understanding Our Time, 2008-09-05
While many people in the West have become familiar with words like outsourcing, offshoring and globalisation, some questions remain: what exactly do these words mean? When did globalisation as we know it begin? What are the forces that drive globalisation and what will the future of a globalised world look like? Thomas Friedman, the three-time Pulitzer prize winner, addresses these questions in an honest, informed way by arguing that the world has become flatter in the last 20 years.
The author begins by outlining the forces that led to globalisation or a flattening of the world: the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; development of the internet and web browsers; offshoring; outsourcing; uploading (read Blogging, Youtube and the MySpace phenomenon) and improved supply chain management. He convincingly argues that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the development of the computers and the internet have led to an increase in the global (skilled) labour force and vast improvements in labour productivity. By using cogent examples from India, Thomas Friedman explained that the development of the internet and the presence of a skilled labour force in India enabled that country to jettison fifty years of Socialism in favour of a free market economy. This has in turn led to astronomical growth rates on the subcontinent.
The author then sets his sights on America's place in the flattening flat. He stresses that while the US has the best universities in the world, it (the US) cannot take it for granted that it will be the leader in science and technology in the new flat world. He presents interesting statistics, which indicate that, the number of US maths and science graduates is falling rapidly, a situation he calls a quiet crisis. Furthermore, Mr Friedman bemoans the failure of the US political class to see the looming crisis ahead. Instead, the politicians in Washington seem to be too busy fighting over petty issues such as drugs in sports and whether or not to teach intelligent design in America's schools.
Mr Friedman then examines the so-called Unflat World i.e. the Developing World (as if we needed another word to describe the poor). He states the inhabitants of the Unflat World (rural India, Africa, rural China) are either too sick or their local governments too broken to participate in the Flat World platform. Though his analysis is a tad too simplistic for me, it does have a ring of truth to it. Yes, bad governments can be a barrier to their people's economic progress. This is all the more regrettable in a world where the barriers to participation in the global economy are being constantly reduced.
The flattening of the world has enabled educated, savvy Indians and Chinese to access hitherto closed markets in the West. Furthermore, their increased prosperity has enabled them to buy more Western goods and services. In a flattening world, both rich and poor countries gain from trade and exchange. However, the book argues that there are also real losers in the flattening process chief among who are people who lose their jobs to oursourcing or offshoring. Friedman argues for more elaborate safety nets to help those who lose out in the globalisation game.
The book is quite US-centric but it does not detract from its main theme. The key message that I took from the book is on page 343. Mr Freidman: "Wealth in an age of flatness will increasingly gravitate to those countries that get three things right: the infrastructure to connect as efficiently and speedily as possible with the flat world platform, the right education programmes and knowledge skills to empower more of their people to innovate and do value-added work on that platform, and finally the right governance - that is, the right tax policies, the right investment and trade laws, and, most of all, the right inspirational leadership - to enhance and manage the flow with the flat world." It is a message that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I highly recommend The World is Flat to anyone interested in understanding the forces that drive globalisation and how they will affect him/her in the nest 20-30 years.
 Not too exciting..., 2007-10-31
I thought the idea was good, but like so many of these books, not enough to fill a few hundred pages. I think we know that the "world is getting flatter" (even the metaphor is a bit naff - the world is shrinking) and that this is changing business.
Don't bother.
Disappointing, 2008-08-10
Friedman's latest book is just plain disappointing. We all know that the world is growing more connected -- the internet, cell phones, global trade, etc. are all growing quickly. The world is changing fast. We all know that.
Friedman's book does not add much. He is not an expert in any of the topics he discusses, and he does not do the kind of in-depth research or thinking needed to come up with an interesting prediction or observation. Rather, he just picked a "hot topic," did a few random interviews, and wrote a book.
Freidman oversimplifies an incredibly complex process, and he does not tell you anything you do not already know. He also repeats his catch phrase -- "the world is flat" -- over and over, as if trying to make you remember the name of his book.
I really enjoyed Beruit to Jerusalem when it came out, and I was very disappointed to read this one.
 Far Ranging and Insightful, 2009-01-02
Far reaching, eloquent and insightful, The World is Flat is a book more people should read. Looking towards the future with a good understanding of the past and the current, Friedman paints a compelling picture of how the world is becoming flatter (more connected and interconnected) which is changing the way the way we live now and surely will change even more in the not too distant future. Although the course of this change is not set in stone and many varied forces, both positive and negative, will influence the world is becoming flatter.
At a little over 600 pages, The World is Flat, covers a lot of ground. The first third of the book sets the context for Friedman's observations and discussions; including ten forces that flattened the world, which starts with the fall of the Berlin wall and progresses through to our digital online world. The "triple convergence"; simultaneous improvements of complimentary goods (the reinforcing nature of the ten flattening forces etc), improved horizontal platforms that allow people to business in new ways and the connection of previously untapped brain power from places like China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Central Asia.
The remaining two-thirds of the book cover the following topics:
* America and the Flat World
* Developing Countries and the Flat World
* You and the Flat World
* Geopolitics and the Flat World
There is also a conclusions chapter that explores the importance of imagination in this flattening world, juxtaposing examples of where imagination has been leveraged to create a better, flatter world with situations where circumstances confine people into trying to remember better times, which has created serious frustrations.
It is worth bearing in mind that, as the list of topics covered suggests, the book has an obvious American view point to it, which may not suit everyone. Also Friedman talks about the Middle East quite a lot and makes some references to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which he seems too skip over a little too quickly for me. But having said the above these are small quibbles about a big book covering big concepts, which I would highly recommend for anyone interested in how business, society, economics, politics, the environment or even the job markets may change in the future.
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