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Summary: A perspective on globalization
Review: This book was assigned to me in my international relations course at Georgia Tech.Economics and globalization are two words that go together as peanut butter and jelly do these days. Friedman presents his idea of today's global economy and presents some very interesting ideas. While I did not read this book for pleasure, I really did enjoy it as it took me away from the plain vanilla format that college textbooks present.
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Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Thomas L. Friedman explains that the old world order of the Cold War has been replaced by a new paradigm of globalization. In this system, finance, information and technology are being democratized. The Lexus automotive brand of the title is the emblem of globalization. The Olive Tree stands for deep local cultural connections. The tension between globalization and cultural identity is the defining conflict of the new era. Friedman excels at making connections among diverse events and is a brilliant storyteller. He is particularly good at translating complex ideas into vivid, clear, colloquial language. His observations seem so simple that it is easy to miss how profound they are. His arguments seem almost irrefutable. He is basically optimistic and chooses not to dwell much on the dangers implicit in this new world. We recommend the book to everybody. Because Friedman draws heavily on his rich store of anecdotes this book is best appreciated in its full length.
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Summary: A must read to understand today's events
Review: Friedman's book is an engaging look at what globalization means in this post Cold War world. By describing the rise of global markets through examining the world through six different "lenses," he is able to take a complex subject and make an understandable and compelling argument for his view that globalization is like the dawn. In his own words "even if I didn't much care for the dawn there isn't much I could do about it." As the New York Times foreign affairs columnist he is able to bring a wealth of experience and personal observation to the book, and he fills it with interesting, compelling, and sometimes disturbing anecdotes from his travels and relationships with foreign leaders. He makes a case that through the democratization of finance, information, and technology, we have an increasingly interdependent global economy, fraught with both great rewards, and great dangers. Friedman artfully describes those groups of people who are well positioned for success (and also risk) in the global economy, "gazelles and lions," who have to run every day to eat or to avoid being eaten. The author also describes those people who are not positioned to compete in the global economy (the "Fast World") and see globalization as an unseen and uncontrollable force increasingly threatening the lives and livelihood of both themselves and their children (turtles, trying to avoid becoming road kill). Friedman explains the danger to a backlash against globalization and gives real suggestions about things to change in our political construct, and things to preserve and strengthen. In his words "America, at its best is not just a country. It's a spiritual value and role model. It's a nation that is not afraid to go to the moon, but also still loves to come home for Little League." I finished the book with tears in my eyes. The strength of his vision is compelling and this book is the first I have read that has both defined, and accurately caught the start of, this new system of globalization.
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Summary: Great book on understanding the "New Global Economy"!
Review: I read this book on the recommendation of Robert Kiyosaki. In one of his books, he mentions the concept of the "Electronic Herd" (borrowed from "The Lexus and the Olive tree") and how much power they have... How they can move billions of dollars out of a country and into another with the click of a mouse. Interesting reading. So, what is this book all about? Its about the old economy versus the new economy... but on a Global scale. Much like the works of R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Friedman has a comprensive view, a global view of economics... after travelling all over the world for the past 20 years as a Foreign Affairs Columnist for the New York Times. I love this book. It's not what I expected at all. I figured it would be filled with stories about how greedy, selfish and uncaring Americans are when people are starving in third world nations. But the author surprised me. Instead of taking that old tired course, he offers fresh insights and ideas on what is happening to different economies all over the world when they are faced with electronic commerce and exchange. He presents much anecdotal evidence that if you are the leader of a third world nation, you can move ahead and build a bustling economy if you understand exactly what is happening and are willing to throw out old ideas (i.e. communism, facism, dictatorships). Capitalism is not perfect, but right now it is the best system mankind has yet invented... but don't take my word for it, read the five hundred examples in this book of how (blended properly with the internet technologies) it is improving the standard of living all over the world. The world is getting smaller, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
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Summary: A clear explanation of globalization
Review: I started "the Lexus and the Olive Tree" knowing nothing about globalization. After reading the book, I feel that I have a clear understanding of globalization that I can apply to the present and the future. In the first section, "Seeing the System," Friedman defines and explains globalization, showing its influences on the market and how it differs from the Cold War system. Also, he pushes globalization as the only viable economic model. In the second section, "Plugging into the System," Friedman shows globalization to be the driving force behind democracy and free markets in emerging societies. He writes a list of nine questions in chapter 11 that ask whether your company or country has potential for power in our globalized world and to show how companies and countries operate similarly. He also covers reciprocity of trade as a peacekeeping force. In the third section, "Backlash Against the System," Friedman discusses the backlash of several unique groups as well as the groundswell of people who wish to be part of globalization. In the fourth and final section, "America and the System," Friedman explores why the United States is the leader and driving force behind globalization, despite the problems listed on page 378. He also covers the envy and resentment felt by other countries towards the U.S, and discusses the future of globalization and ways to shape it. I found this to be a highly informative and well thought out book, even though I had to wait until chapter three for it to hook me. I loved how Friedman uses stories of his travels to clearly illustrate his points. However, I found some of the made up terms, such as the "electronic herd" and the "golden straight jacket," to be somewhat annoying. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in globalization, but especially to investors, environmentalists, activists, and politicians.
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Summary: Winners Losers and How we play the game.
Review: Friedman took and excellent look at globalization and the conditions that it creates in today's world. He is of course a westerner and has obviously found his niche in a globalized world thus has some bias towards the positive effects of globalization. However, this does not reduce the validity of his opinions in the least. He has had the opportunity to take a priveleged look at the world in places where events which he describes have taken place not via satellite or in the week end edition of some U. S. news rag. Perhaps the point which I found most beneficial as well as notable is that of how globalization and the information if provides us actually empowers us to do things and fight against governments and the powers that be on terms never before imaginable, as equals. Of course I realize this is stretching it but I really do beleive that this force has raised to equal footing in terms of information that we have at our disposal. Information in my mind is of course power. In closing it is a well written book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
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Summary: "No one is in charge!"
Review: Those fearing this book is a treatise in economics, take heart. Lexus isn't about numbers or the arcane world of international banking - it's about attitude. If your attitude is open to global thinking, untrammelled by tradition or restrictive cultural ideas, you will surely succeed in improving your lifestyle. If you hold too tightly to traditional ideals, you will just as surely fail. Either way, you'd best buy, read, and understand this book. Friedman's analysis conveys the thinking of too many people. You cannot afford to ignore it. With evangelical fervour, Friedman explains how the end of the Cold War unleashed American capitalism around the globe. While "free market" capitalism had been a weapon in those years of missile diplomacy, the breakup of the Soviet Union left the American economic model without a major opponent. The collapse of the Berlin Wall, coinciding with the rise of the high speed digital communications, led to a new era of global finance. Once, "the sun never set on the British Empire." Now the Internet allows investment activity continuously and without hindrance. The market is never closed as international financial transactions occur constantly, and at light speed. And the market is open to anyone wishing to participate. Friedman argues that the American model of capitalism is the ideal version. Government must play a minimal role. Labour unions are to be quelled. No favours are to be shown to any not meeting the new performance standards. The "wounded" firm must be killed off to allow the successful to continue. There will be disruptions in peoples' lives, but emerging new businesses will pick up any slack. The reward will be growth and enhanced living standards. The system is so well established now, according to Friedman, that it can, is and will be exported successfully around the planet. Anyone it touches need only accept it without question. Global acceptance, of course, is the rub. The world isn't [yet] American. Scattered around our planet are numerous cultures who either haven't seen the light or resist its premise. These are the peoples who cling to their "olive trees" in defiance of Americanization. Friedman recognizes their concern over losing what they feel is valuable. He should, his interviewees have told him so often enough. He doesn't want them subjugated to an American ideal, he wants them to buy into the system voluntarily. Many want what the new economic system offers, he stresses. They simply have to learn how to adjust their values enough to bring America's financial methods into their own culture. How are they to achieve this feat? Replace restrictive or unresponsive governments. How this is to be achieved in the face of the pace of globalization is left unexplained. Friedman's eagerness is contagious. It seems cruel to refute a man who presents his case with such honesty and in such a readable style. He carries you along with finesse and you have no feeling of being duped by someone so forthright. He wants everybody to accept his assertions because he sincerely believes those who do will benefit from the new economics. He addresses every objection, meeting each head-on with convincing arguments. He admits, for example, that not everyone has access to the digital communications making globalization possible. Easily solved, he says. One cell 'phone per village is a good start. Even the environmental concerns are [briefly] touched - conservationists adopting capitalist tactics will save the rain forest. I'm not making this up! He means what he says. What he fails to recognize is that high speed communication, instantaneous finance and rapid economic growth carries an exacting price. Consumption at the American pace over the whole planet means production to meet the demand. That level of production is reflected in the inroads being made on the world's resources. The pace of growth is faster than "environmentalists" can cope with. Environmental issues are brought to view only when it's too late. If people sit back, allowing unfettered capitalism to buy off their future, there won't be a world left for enjoyment of that enhanced lifestyle. Friedman rejoices in the assertion that "no one is in charge" because it means no fetters to American capitalist ideals. That lack of control may sound the knell of the ideal. Capitalism, as a philosopher once noted, carries the seeds of its own destruction. Sprouts from those seeds may be found in Mark Hertsgaard's "Earth Odyssey." Read Friedman, then immediately take up Hertsgaard. Only then can you realistically assess your own attitude.
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Summary: Gotta getta Lexus (or be run over)
Review: What a marvelous concept, "the golden straitjacket" reaching "critical mass"! How lucky we are to live in an age when gifted seers can mix such delirious metaphorical cocktails and have the op-ed establishment purvey them as divine elixir! "One size fits all" is fine, if the size happens to be yours, right? Why shouldn't you be comfortable on the bed of Procrustes if you can snuggle down in it without doing violence to your physique? As for those poor benighted countries whose olive trees get in the way of the roads a Lexus needs to roll down on its triumphal tour of the globe, they'll soon learn to appreciate the blessings of universal Americanization. Once those stupid trees are lopped down and the highways plowed through, the "slow world" will forget all about its futile particularism! And then the prophet of Foreign Affairs (soon to be renamed simply "Affairs", since, after all, the walls have come tumbling down) will be hailed as the oracular flag-bearer of the glorious New Dawn. Thank you for ripping the scales from our eyes, o wise and beneficent one. We'll stop complaining at once, and learn to love the Lexi...
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Summary: Metaphors and parables on globalization
Review: The Lexus and the Olive Tree is a pretty extensive explanation of just what is "globalization." But there was a lot in the way of style that I found... well, just annoying. The other reviews have already noted these things: the catchy terminology (Microchip Immune Deficiency, the Electronic Herd, The Golden Arches Theory... etc.), his op-ed writing style, his over-confidence and ego, and the simplicity of his arguments. Except for the last one, these are surface criticisms, but they affected my enjoyment of the book. On the other hand, the material in the book is interesting enough. He discusses how the system of globalization developed from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of economies. His experience in journalism is an asset he uses in recalling conversations with economists, politicial leaders, and civilians and thus personalizing the effects of this new world order. He describes the advantanges that globalism brings to all people, in developed and undeveloped countries, but is fully aware of the dangers of letting a system so powerful go uncontrolled. His basic theme is that everyone must eventually bow down to globalism because it is inevitable, but everyone must also be conscious that it can remove and dislocate people from their pasts, which can have unstable results. I gave this book three stars because somehow, I just wasn't very satisfied. Though it covered a lot of ground and I did find it insightful in many places, especially Friedman's analysis of the Cold War system versus the post-Cold War system, the op-ed style of writing and the too many parables and metaphors made the reading a little laborious. However, if you only have a vague idea about what globalism is, and you want a better understanding of how this system affects you and everyone else in the world, then by all means, I recommend it. I do think Friedman gets the job done, but I would have liked a little more depth and substance behind his arguments.
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Summary: Global economics in a fun-to-read book
Review: I've done business in some of the countries author Friedman mentions in his book, so it was very interesting to compare his vision of the problems of global business and economy with my own amateur observations. I think he has done a commendable job of looking at the disparity between the "have" countries and the "going-to-have" and the definitely "have-not's." He also voices the concern that many people who visit Third World nations have; what can be done for those that are left behind by the technological rush. It's a heavy problem--are we pressuring countries like Thailand to do in a year what we have done in a century? This is one of the questions Friedman poses. The book is amusingly written; I found many really terrific passages that caught my eye immediately (the description of Cold War posturing as an international Sumo match was priceless.) Many of his observations match up with what I saw in India and Thailand, so I can corroborate at least some of what he says. My only objection to The Lexus and the Olive Tree is the organization of the book. It is kind of a patchwork of the many (good) thoughts Friedman had. A better editing job might have resulted in better organization and flow of the book. I found it hard to read in that it did not move smoothly from idea to idea. This is why I give it three stars, although I think for anyone doing international business in any way, it is a valuable book to read, and not at all dry or boring.
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