Review: The World is Flat

I am waayyyy behind on reviewing what I've read, so I'll just stick to the most recent few. This book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, is written by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and explores the way that technology has removed the barriers to globalization. In particular, he focuses on the advent of the web and the fall of the Berlin Wall and how they have affected the distribution of productivity around the globe. We've obviously just reached the tip of the iceberg here, as technology keeps ramping up efficiencies.

I was fascinated by his take on things, much as I was when reading his The Lexus and The Olive Tree. His style of writing is very clear and interesting, even when the subjects aren't necessarily scintillating. He writes about offshoring, outsourcing, and how they can factor into geopolitics. One frightening point he makes is that we have yet to see what will happen to the global economy once all of India and China are online and bring their massive populations' energy demands to the world market. And we think gas prices are high now...

Definitely recommend this book for brain spinach reading. If you're looking for a break from light summer fare, this is a good bet.

And one note: I'm using Safari at the moment to post, which apparently does not support all of the Blogger functionality. No inserted links or formatting capabilities!!