JAYanthem blog

Well I have finally finished The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and it was absolutely a very interesting read. For those that don’t know this is a nonfiction book about how technology is flattening our world at a rapid pace and how individuals and countries can adapt to these changes and succeed in this new world. What Friedman means by “flattening” is that as the world continues down a path of globalization many developing countries now are empowered to go toe to toe with developed countries thanks to the convergence of these technology drivers and the geopolitical events of the past quarter century. A must read for anyone interested in globalization, outsourcing, and how America (and yourself) will be shaped by these changes in the future along with the changes it must make now to succeed later. So this is not way way to long, here are some of my thoughts on a few select chapters after reading the book. A good test for whether you’d like this book would be if anything below interests you.

The Ten Forces that Flattened the World
I thought this may have been the most interesting and page turning part of the book, it serves as a brief history lesson in technology 101. In this long chapter Friedman goes into great detail on the ten forces he believes causing the flattening of the world. Among them are the fall of the Berlin Wall, Netscape IPO, Open-Sourcing, Outsourcing, and Supply-Chaining. This chapter is peppered with thoughts from VPs and CEOs of major corporations in America and India.

America and Free Trade
This chapter focuses on whether David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage is still accurate in this new age. Friedman believes that Ricardo is still right although he admits that back in Ricardo’s day things were a little different as goods were tradable but knowledge work and services were not. Also he admits that when an American loses his job to foreign competition the unemployment rate isn’t 5.2%; it’s 100 percent. That said he believes that there are growing pains associated as Americans will have to learn new skills but overall if the global pie keeps growing the dip can be temporary. One of his best points is about the lump of labor theory which centers around the notion that there is a fixed lump of labor in the world and that once it is gobbled up there won’t be any jobs left to go around. A big reason that theory is false is that it assumes that everything that is going to be invented has been invented already. I know I fall victim to this way of thinking myself as I find myself saying “there’s no way we could do this better” but people I’m sure having been saying that for hundreds, if not thousands of years- it just isn’t true. Just consider that with all the outsourcing that has occurred over the past decade in America the unemployment rate would/should be much higher now than it was ten years ago- but it isn’t.

The Untouchables
This chapter is really about how to make yourself “untouchable” so that your job can’t be outsourced. It discusses how America currently nurtures success better than any country to succeed in a capital market.

The Quiet Crisis
This addresses the previous chapter and says basically yeah we are setup well to succeed but are we going to keep it that way? The answer, according to Friedman, is no- not if we continue down the path we are on. Some of the facts to come out of this chapter about how America is losing ground to the rest of the world are eye popping, especially reading about the shortage of American born engineers that are qualified to work at NASA. It also touches on things I’ve theorized even before reading this book, such as how many young Americans seem to think that they are entitled to the success they do or do not enjoy rather than understanding the hard work and ambition needed to achieve it.

This is Not a Test
This is a call to Americans to make a change and respond to the challenges we are faced with. While I’m not in alignment with everything Friedman discusses in this chapter I must say I’m a huge fan of his proposal to change the course that we are headed down. He believes that if we want to get passionate about the flat world then we should look to the past to see how we can succeed. Consider what JFK did by creating the space race vs the evil Soviet Union, he got Americans “excited about sacrificing and buckling down to do what it took to win the Cold War.” The space race really turned into a science race, but in the end it was an education race that we won. Now consider the issues of the world today, Friedman outlines a plan that he hopes would inspire Americans to buckle down again and create the ambition required while having the side effect of increasing our national security. He believes that the President should create a national science initiative that has he says would be our generations moon shot. A call to create a crash program for alternative energy and conservation to make America energy-independent in TEN years. This would dry up revenues streams for terrorist, push oil countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran to the path of reform, strengthen our relationship with Europe by being environment friendly, and maybe most importantly inspire young Americans to help our nation by becoming great scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. Whether this is done by President Bush or the next President to take the office I think this needs to become a reality and soon.

Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention
Interesting chapter on how Friedman believes that supply-chain membership can help keep the world at peace. Although he admits that supply-chaining alone can’t stop a war, it absolutely can be a positive force to keep two nations friendly when they know they must work with each other if they want their economy to continue down a path of growth.

11/9 Versus 9/11
This compares the two competing forms of imagination that have shaped our world- the fall of the wall and the fall of the twin towers. As he contends, those who brought down the Berlin Wall dared to imagine a more open world while those behind 9/11 dared to imagine how many innocent people they could kill. He then discusses why India is the second largest Muslim country in the world yet you never hear of a Indian Muslim involved in terror plots- not to mention there are no Indian Muslims in Guantanamo Bay. In closing Friedman discusses what he believes to be the two greatest dangers facing America- excess of protectionism and excessive fears in living in globalizing world that causes us to wall ourselves off, in search of economic security.

By no means do I agree with everything said in The World is Flat and I do think he occasionally paints a one-sided picture. However I believe this is a great book to get you thinking about what will be a very important subject matter for Americans for many years to come.

Now if you actually made it to the end of this, then just go out and by the book because you would like it!