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Summary: Free Trade Candy
Review: If you have read Friedman and are feeling like a free trade warrior, you need to read William Greider's One World Ready or Not as an antidote.
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Summary: Subject matter is a little too broad....
Review: This book, while excellent in many ways, ended up disappointing, perhaps because I expected more from an author like Friedman. The subject matter is too broad; it's impossible to fully explain the effects of globalization over the entire world in a single volume. The analysis take a back-seat to an endless stream of anecdotes, which, while they provide small glimpses into globalization's legacy, do not provide an overall picture of what is happening in the world, or why. One is better off reading various works on the subject with more focused aims; Kaplan is a good starting point.
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Summary: A must read for those looking ahead, not backwards.
Review: Anyone that rates this book one or two stars is either jealous or doesn't like Thomas Friedman. Three stars indicates the reviewer just doesn't understand. Four/five star reviewers understand and will apply this great work. I give the book 4.5 stars, only 1/2 off due to the slow start of the first 100 pages--the last 100 pages were brillant.
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Summary: Simplistic and trite
Review: Friedman rehashes cliches about globalization and the impacts of technological change. If you are interested in globalization, read Kaplan and Huntington -- they actually have something to say.
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Summary: The Lexus and the Olive Tree
Review: This is an outstanding book to understand the world in which we live, the forces that are propelling us toward our future, and what that future may look like. In light of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, this book takes on even more meaning. The power of globalization is vast and immense, and yet it is a very fragile. Acts of terror by small groups of people have the potential for great disruption, not only through loss of life, but also causing much economic and political pain. We clearly are witnessing this right now, in the time since September 11. Because of the force with which it is transforming the world, Friedman writes that many poeple feel very threatened by globalization, and violent extremists will lash out in ways like we saw on that horrible Tuesday morning. But we are not helpless in preventing or curtailing terrorist reactions to globalization trends, and Friedman wrties of the things nations, economies and even individuals can do to prevent others from feeling marginalized, whether their reactions would be violent or not. This is a tremendously enlightening book that provides unique insight into the complexities of plotting the course of a nation or a company. As I think of the delicate balance that President Bush must strike in the days ahead to not only build a consensus of world opinion that condemns terrorism but also chart a course for the nation and the world through troubled economic waters, I remember much of what Friedman has written in this book that is now more pertinent than ever. Go out and buy this book NOW! You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Good "I Was There" anecdotal analysis
Review: Mr Friedman has done some research, obviously, but this is basically a compendium of his own observations over the past decade. He has very astutely weaved his experiences into a coherent, compelling whole. An entertaining, worthwhile read. Would have given it 4 stars, but, as others have mentioned, Mr Friedman lets his political beliefs bleed in towards the end, somewhat unconvincingly. You can skip the last 50 pages or so.
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Summary: America rules the waves
Review: A Japanese child lands in America and is thrilled to see the golden arches - " Even these people have McDonalds!" Tom travels for several hours away from America and wakes up in Malaysia - He is greeted by a large image of Colonel Sanders across his hotel window. The former Indian Prime Minister Mr. I.K. Gujral's grand daughter demands a pizza and insists on having it from Pizza Hut. Well, the walls have disappeared and Uncle Sam is marching all over the globe; a phenomenon similar to the presence of the British Empire in the nineteenth Century. But this time it is not imperialism and not a conquest of countries for Colonization. It is a global urge to democratize Information, Technology and Finance in order to achieve higher standards of living. This is an opportunity to create AND distribute wealth across borders without walls. The inefficient are weeded out and market forces are sweeping across continents. Individual countries or institutions no longer control the global markets. The flow of investments - both short term and long term- are a collective action of millions of investors - "The electronic herd" which is constantly looking around for promise of greener pastures. Governments who recognize this will have more transparent, efficient and honest administrations to attract and retain the herd. The herd can also desert in a stampede as we saw in East Asia in 1998. But all the freedom, wealth and good things are not without pain and risk. On one hand we find the number of billionaires has multiplied and at the other extreme we still have over a billion people who do not earn even a dollar a day. Billions for some and billions with none. There are rising tensions not due to the arms race of the cold war, but the uncertainty over the impact of globalization. For many that are hurt in the absence of a safety net, globalization is a threat more dangerous than a real war. It is in this context that the careful management of the globalization process across diverse countries assumes significance. No other nation other than America seems to have the capability to lead the world in the new era. In the process if America becomes arrogant and irresponsible in her actions, we may once again fall back into a world of walls that inhibit freedom, innovation and a better life for all. Apart from the economic and social implications of globalization, Thomas Friedman also takes you on a global tour, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
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Summary: Good history, poor analysis: Look elsewhere
Review: Tom Friedmann writes about interesting topics and this is one of them. Inspired by a Lexus factory and a farmer protecting his olive tree, Friedman offers a clear, informal description of globalization. He seems to endorse global free market capitalism and free trade. So the description is pretty much spot on. But then there's the "understanding" part. And here the book loses points fast... Freidman's a journalist, not an economist. And, like so many journalists, he has a liberal (not in the traditional, European use of the world, but rather in the Bill Clinton, big 'D' democrat use) bias. Friedman tries to convince the reader that if we'd only listen to Clinton and other well-intentioned, nice-sounding, politically correct politicians, journalists and pundits, we could really manage free trade, which, as any decent student of world economics knows, is an oxymoron. If you want a better analysis, read Dan Yergin's "Commanding Heights". Or David Landes' "Wealth and poverty of nations". They are much more thorough works and the authors are better-prepared to offer cogent, credible analyses.
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Summary: Thomas Friedman's an interesting guy
Review: He spends 90 percent of this book writing a lucid, informative description of globalization. He extols global free market capitalism and free trade in terms that might remind one of another Friedman...Milton. But Thomas simply can't let his story tell itself. He has to find a way to shoehorn the facts into his belief system. So, incredibly, he spends the last pages of the book contradicting everything he's told us in order to support his ideological belief that somehow wise, social-democrat style governments can "manage" the incredibly complex and benign forces he has described. It would be amusing if it weren't pathetic.
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Summary: Should have been a magazine article
Review: I am a big fan of Friedman's ever since "From Beirut to Jerusalem," because of his insights and style. "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" has some critical insights into globalization, expecially for the uninitiated. As importantly, the book is about how power has been redefined in the current instant-information age. The main problem with the book is that it could have been a magazine article; most of his points have been made within the first few chapters, and even then are longwinded. It seems as if someone said "hey, this would be a great book" and that a lot of needless padding went on as a result. Unfortunately this seems to be a modern publishing trend, I felt last visited in Kunstler's "The Geography of Nowhere".
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