This latest installment from Thomas Friedman, the 3 times Pulitzer prize winner is undoubtedly a successful depiction of globalization. The book does provide a lot of good insights of what's happening in the flat world and is well written (as Tom always does). The language of the book is non-technical and even a layman can understand the concepts. However, there are areas in the book where an individual with a business acumen will be more comfortable.
Some say it is not a book but is a handbook or playbook on the flat world. What I liked in this book is the use of adequate data and facts to provide the reader with a perspective. The stories are vivid and descriptive. Tom beautifully lays out the definitions of outsourcing, insourcing and completes his list of 10 flatteners of the world.
While I was reading the book, I was flabbergasted by the amount of data used in the book. Yes, its a long book so have patience will read :-). Having said that although it is an interesting book that is difficult to put down, it also gets boring towards the end when Tom starts talking about the steps America should take to maintain the super power status. Those chapters become very cliched and feels like political bashing.
Also, the flip side of the book is that it is written with a green glass view. The author is an utterly optimistic person and to sell his idea of globalization and to introduce the concept of flat world, forgot to discuss the perils of globalization. While globalization is an irreversible process, the gap between the rich and poor is increasing. Rich nations are become richer through exploitation of poorer counterparts. I have my own word for this "Capitalistic Imperialism". I would go to the extent of saying that it is "The next wave of imperialism". While the British empire has fallen since long, a new form of imperialism is on the rise which some people coin as globalization.
It would have been definitely a great idea for Tom to discuss some of the perils, to provide a balanced view. May be the book was not written with this intention at all. All in all it is a very nice read and the reader will be loaded with facts and will be all set to engage in the globalization debate. Happy Reading !!
Some say it is not a book but is a handbook or playbook on the flat world. What I liked in this book is the use of adequate data and facts to provide the reader with a perspective. The stories are vivid and descriptive. Tom beautifully lays out the definitions of outsourcing, insourcing and completes his list of 10 flatteners of the world.
While I was reading the book, I was flabbergasted by the amount of data used in the book. Yes, its a long book so have patience will read :-). Having said that although it is an interesting book that is difficult to put down, it also gets boring towards the end when Tom starts talking about the steps America should take to maintain the super power status. Those chapters become very cliched and feels like political bashing.
Also, the flip side of the book is that it is written with a green glass view. The author is an utterly optimistic person and to sell his idea of globalization and to introduce the concept of flat world, forgot to discuss the perils of globalization. While globalization is an irreversible process, the gap between the rich and poor is increasing. Rich nations are become richer through exploitation of poorer counterparts. I have my own word for this "Capitalistic Imperialism". I would go to the extent of saying that it is "The next wave of imperialism". While the British empire has fallen since long, a new form of imperialism is on the rise which some people coin as globalization.
It would have been definitely a great idea for Tom to discuss some of the perils, to provide a balanced view. May be the book was not written with this intention at all. All in all it is a very nice read and the reader will be loaded with facts and will be all set to engage in the globalization debate. Happy Reading !!
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