The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century
by Thomas Friedman
This is one of those books that actually lives up to the hype – yes, it’s on the New York Times bestseller list, you can’t walk through a Borders without seeing stacks of these copies and there are about 417 customer reviews on this on Amazon. Friedman’s premise is pretty simple: in the last 10 years a convergence of different factors including the downfall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a slew of new technologies have basically broken down the borders of the world. This “flatness” has given growth to globalization on a massive scale and countries such as China and India now can compete directly with the United States and Europe not only in manufacturing bur in all sorts of high-end knowledge work. This shift of labor and capital from the West to the developing world will only accelerate and Friedman tell us to better get ready or we’re going to get trampled under by this new wave of productivity.
Friedman’s book is almost 500 pages long and covers everything from the Netscape IPO to the 9/11 attack on the USA. He traveled extensively and interviewed scores of CEOS and workers around the world. The lessons learned are unmistakable and bluntly presented: Globalization is good and will continue and you better get your act together or your job will get shipped over to Bangalore or coastal China. Besides the obvious examples of goods from China that are flooding into your neighborhood Wal-Mart – Friedman has all sorts of threatening scenarios where your X-rays and tax returns are all being processed in some office in India without you being aware of it. As a stout free-trader, he has no problems in explaining why globalization is good for you, even though you may lose your job because of it. In the long run, the USA will be better off with a globalized economy where goods and services flow freely across the globe.
I would have been much more impressed if he had at spent a lot more time discussing issues such as the bulging US trade deficit, the currency manipulations practiced by Japan, Korea, China and others, the lack of access to these countries for American companies & the basic greed of American consumers that flock to places like Walmart’s to save a few dollars even as their neighbor’s jobs are being eliminated. Living in Detroit gives us a unique perspective on how globalization works. It’s not pretty to see thousands of jobs lost to foreign competitors who don’t have to pay health care for their employees and whose governments quickly jump in at the first sign of trouble. I know that this sounds like sour grapes, but I’m really not sure who is going to replace everything that the Big Three give to Michigan. It’s kind of ironic to see people crying and moaning that Ford does not support the Detroit Jazz Festival anymore until you drive through the parking lots and see all of the Hondas and Toyotas sitting there. I guess that people just can’t think that far ahead or maybe they think that the few dollars they save on the resale value of their Accord will make up for the higher taxes and lower property values that they will endure in the future.
Well, I can’t blame Friedman for the woes of the American auto industry or the problems we’re having in Michigan. (Most of those are our fault for taking the American consumer for granted). This book really makes you think about the our future and also gives you a quick jolt – there are plenty of people in the world that want our jobs and we better be prepared for a lot more competition than ever before because there is no going back.