Rating: 
Summary: Extra! Extra!
Review: Friedman spins one contrived anecdote after another in an attempt to illustrate a string of mangled analogies. While the subject of the book is vitally interesting, nuggets of content and glimmers of insight are few and far between. The author draws heavily on gimmicks inappropriate beyond the news column, with a disproportionately high number of paragraphs ending in a quote, a rhetorical question, or a punch line (and on occasion all three). A good intro to the subject, but look elsewhere for serious analysis. Friedman seems to have a sound understanding of the subject matter, however his journalistic flare and heavy-handed story telling obscure much of what he is attempting to convey. Over-written and under-edited.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written - but Friedman is no economist
Review: Lexus and the olive tree is extremely well written overview of the causes and impact of globalization. It is also very flawed. Friedman is an excellent journalist - not an economist or technologist. His arguments show large holes.For example in the first chapter he compares 1900 dollars to 1990 dollars with no inflation charges. His errors continue from there. This book reads like someone who never got beyond Economics 101 and has no grounding in basic Finance. After a few chapters I lost steam reading the book and skimmed the rest of it. If you are aware of current economic trends the book won't tell you much new. His anecdotal stories are excellent as are his insights into the fear of globalization. He argues that people see the problems of globalization, but the benefits are hidden. Perhaps this works in the US - in other small open economies such as Taiwan or Canada people are much more aware of the benefits. JK Galbraith when asked what he thinks of globalization replied - "It is a long term trend". Underlying Friedman's argument is that globalization is new and can be stopped. It isn't and it can't. He says has that technology has displaced more workers than globalization. But gives no proof. Near the end of the book he says - "I believe the Almighty may destroy the Internet much like he did with the Tower of Babylon". According to Schumpeter's "Creative Destruction", the job loss associated with technological change is central to the capitalist system's ability to maximize output and total wealth creation over time. Productivity increases peoples standard of living and technology is one of the main drivers of these gains. Perhaps Friedman should focus on writing about Middle East politics and leave the economic analysis to others.
Rating: 
Summary: a classic intro to globalization
Review: This book has been around for quite a while. It is regarded by many of my friends as their bible of globalization. It describes the processes and events that have shaped the current world economic and social order. Most interesting were the discussions of financial, technological and political events of the last ten years and their implications in setting a new World Order to replace the Cold War Order. The different influences, backlashes, and arguments for, and against, the process of globalization were explored in various levels of detail. This book really was a perfect way to end my world history survey, by bringing the various stories together in a modern examination. This is a very famous book for a good reason. The author is so well traveled and has seen so much, that his knowledge and detail is at times overwhelming and a bit painstaking. His tendency to offer pop-culture examples of different social trends was very enjoyable, with many references to commercials and advertisements as being symbolic of more general social realities. I felt the book overall story is so well told, and the flow so consistent, that I enjoyed picking this book up from start to finish. This book was fascinating to see how the rest of society is coming to appreciate the diversity of the world and the wide array of problems facing us all. The main failure of the book was that it offered no coherent framework for bringing it all together, which I believe exists. The author seemed confused and bewildered by the events of our generation, and he even goes as far to critique others who have tried to make historical frameworks. But in the end, he is a journalist, and he does not seem willing to take that step into philosopher and historian that would be necessary for such a leap. Therefore I could not bring myself to regard this book as more than a long article on the state of affairs of the world, with no conclusion or solution at the end. But I felt it was a very enjoyable, informative, and enlightening book at any rate, and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Pro-Globalization View
Review: I bought this book on the recommendation of a professor. The book offered a strong pro-globalization view and seems to be a bit biased at times. If you want to learn about globalization this is good book, but make sure it is not the only book you read on the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Discredited by recent events
Review: A lightweight discourse about "the vw and the sugarcane" -pretentious, pompous, ethnocentric, purely anecdotal, and woefully lacking in even rudimentary knowledge of the basic economics, worldview and culture of many of the regions he writes about. Sounds like a PBS special best left on the cutting room floor.
Rating:
Summary: Globalization = americanization
Review: With great knowledge and clear strong ideas Thomas Friedman explains the concept of globalization, he makes the reader understand how free capitalism and the deal can make the world a wide community in which everyone has acces to the technology that is ruling our businesses now days.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Reporting with Naive Analysis
Review: The reporting in this book is wonderful, but the book falls apart as Friedman tries to push his agenda that globalism is good for all countries. He offers no proof of this. We are to accept this on his belief. Even George Bush believes free trade is good for all (3.6.2003 press conference). Globalism will shift wealth throughout the world lowering the standard of living in richer nations and raising it in impoverished nations, and I base this assement on basic Systems Theory: ALL systems seek equilibrium. No system continually expands, according to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Yes, globalism is wonderful for developing nations. It will shift many jobs - such as programmers, accountants, toolmakers, architectcs (Feb. 3, 2003 B'ness Week) - to countries where the labor is cheaper lowering the economic prospects in richer nations and raising them in poorer nations. Friedman tries to get around this sticky point by stating new "new goods and services" will continually exapand the economies of richer nations. He never attempts to address how this will happen or what types of goods and services will evolve. Advocates of globalism fall into the utopian belief that it will generate continuous wealth. But, as more and more Americans and Europeans loose their jobs over it, it will collapse under its own weight. Globalism doesn't create jobs in wealthier nations: it destroys them. Colorado serves as an excellent example of this, since Denver has the largest concentration of technical employees in the US and where many high tech companies, such as Maxtor, Seagate, and IBM, have locations. Last year, several thousand technical people lost their jobs in Colorado and this year many of them are welfare (Denver Post). Welfare rolls in CO increased 40-percent in 2002. Maxtor and Seagate laid off workers in Colorado and moved their jobs overseas without them. Where are the new good and services employing displaced workers? Where are they Mr. Friedman?
Rating:
Summary: The Lexus and the Olive Tree and Me, Me, Me!
Review: In one of the early seasons of "Saturday Night Live," Al Franken announced that the 80's would be "The Al Franken Decade." The notion was, more or less, that the world should and would revolve around... Al Franken. It's hard to read this book and not think of that skit, because the word "me" appears so frequently (and gratuitously). World leaders never just "say" things; they say them "to me." It's a construction clearly designed to enable Friedman to depict himself as an oracle whose advice is sought by a wide variety of famous folks. Parts of the book are prescient, especially Friedman's discussion of the potential for terrorism. Many of the "future is now" points are interesting and thought-provoking (although more than a few are already a bit dated). Unfortunately, the pompous approach often gets in the way. Several times during the book, Friedman goes so far as to write long speeches that represent things he claims people SHOULD have said, rather than words they actually spoke!
Rating:
Summary: Very Relevant Book
Review: Since reading this book (twice actually) I have become a faithful reader of Friedman's editorial/opinion articles in the New York Times. I think the stories, information, and ideas in this book are relevant to the life that most of us live today. And if you disagree, at least read the book for its witty humor and entertaining stories. Highly recommended for people who enjoy current affairs and good non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Articulation of Globalism
Review: Never boring and always clear, Friedman steps out of the column and into the storm! Taking on globalism from the pros and cons, LOT (Lexus and the Olive Tree) is an absolute gem. Enough history for the geeks and economics in spoken English - it all makes sense.IMF Protesters watch out! Thomas Friedman agrees with you and because of that is your biggest critic. Globalism [is bad] for those unable to cope - and for those riding its wave it will turn the tide in all the right ways.Three Cheers for liberal market reformers, and four for this book.
| 
