The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
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- Create Date：2021-12-27 09:53:40
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Thomas L. Friedman
- ISBN：0312425074
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Summary
A New Edition of the Phenomenal #1 Bestseller
"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way， and Mr。 Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal，" the Nobel laureate Joseph E。 Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005。 In this new edition， Thomas L。 Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world。 Weaving new information into his overall thesis， and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country， this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures。
The World Is Flat 3。0 is an essential update on globalization， its opportunities for individual empowerment， its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty， and its drawbacks--environmental， social， and political， powerfully illuminated by the Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree。
"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way， and Mr。 Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal，" the Nobel laureate Joseph E。 Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005。 In this new edition， Thomas L。 Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world。 Weaving new information into his overall thesis， and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country， this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures。
The World Is Flat 3。0 is an essential update on globalization， its opportunities for individual empowerment， its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty， and its drawbacks--environmental， social， and political， powerfully illuminated by the Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree。
Reviews
AC
，
Very thorough but extremely repetitive; it’s fine to give examples to understand the topic but I don’t need 12 examples of the same thing， or reach another chapter and feel like I’m rereading the same material。
Richard Littel
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Read this for a course I was taking and just could not get into it。 The author has a tendency to be rather pompous that I found difficult to get past。
翰林院编修
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 世界是平的 7。6 （14434人评价） [美] 托马斯·弗里德曼 / 何帆 / 湖南科学技术出版社 / 2006当学者们讨论世界这20年发展的历史，并把目光聚集在2000年到2004年3月这一段时间时，他们将说些什么？9·11恐怖袭击还是伊拉克战争？
Michael
，
Although I'm 16 years behind in reading this book on the emerging flat world， I was amazed at how much Mr。 Friedman gets right in this book。 His insights as to how world economies and peoples were evolving still has legs in 2021。 I was also impressed with how much he got right as to the future alignment of peoples to the political parties。 He called the alignment of working， lower-middle income peoples to the Republican Party early on， as well as the elites aligning with Democrats。 I particularl Although I'm 16 years behind in reading this book on the emerging flat world， I was amazed at how much Mr。 Friedman gets right in this book。 His insights as to how world economies and peoples were evolving still has legs in 2021。 I was also impressed with how much he got right as to the future alignment of peoples to the political parties。 He called the alignment of working， lower-middle income peoples to the Republican Party early on， as well as the elites aligning with Democrats。 I particularly liked and was made hopeful by his anecdote describing a school for a group of "untouchable" children in India。 I would love to hear how they have made out。I was disappointed， but not surprised， by his occasional partisan rants against the George W。 Bush administration post 9/11。 He used the unfortunate word "shameless" in describing Mr。 Bush and his policies。 I believe that President Bush and Congress acted in good faith in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to keep Americans safe。 I realize in a Democracy that can still lead to differences of opinion as to how best to accomplish our goals， but he could have acknowledged a difference of opinion rather than impugning Mr。 Bush's intent。Proof of Mr。 Friedman's partisanship is his recent defense of Mr。 Biden's infrastructure package。 He accused Mr。 Bush of ramming through legislation or executive orders on defense matters， the environment， etc。 without having an electoral mandate。 Now comes Mr。 Biden with no mandate whatsoever （a 50-50 Senate and a minuscule house majority that actually got smaller with the last election） attempting to push through a highly partisan spending blow-out and tax hike that garners no Republican support。 Rather than calling out Mr。 Biden for pulling our country apart， which is what he is doing， Mr。 Friedman cheers him on。 。。。more
Grant
，
Friedman's meditation on the flat world has surprisingly not become dated in the 15 years since its publication。 Clearly， some recent events might modify how Friedman approaches his concept， but the underlying premise remains valid。 Still worth reading！ Friedman's meditation on the flat world has surprisingly not become dated in the 15 years since its publication。 Clearly， some recent events might modify how Friedman approaches his concept， but the underlying premise remains valid。 Still worth reading！ 。。。more
Chris Risley
，
Interesting description of how the world became so connected
Nasser
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RAK 2282
Sarah F
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Great read！ I read it at the same time as Bertrand Russel’s “the Problem with China”。 What’s interesting is how long ago they were written - yet relatable。
Todd Martin
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The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman can largely be summarized by the following bullet points:1。tGlobal economic competition has flattened thanks to the internet， which allows many jobs to be performed remotely， anywhere in the world。2。tWhile this will result in the loss of some U。S。 jobs through outsourcing， Friedman believes this trend is a net positive … basically using the ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ argument。3。tThe U。S。 will need to up its game if it wishes to retain its economic dominanc The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman can largely be summarized by the following bullet points:1。tGlobal economic competition has flattened thanks to the internet， which allows many jobs to be performed remotely， anywhere in the world。2。tWhile this will result in the loss of some U。S。 jobs through outsourcing， Friedman believes this trend is a net positive … basically using the ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ argument。3。tThe U。S。 will need to up its game if it wishes to retain its economic dominance by turning out more STEM graduates。4。tFriedman voices his concerns regarding Islamic fundamentalism， even though it has only a tenuous relevancy to the subject of the book。 Presumably this is because the book was written in the early 2000’s at a time when the horrors of 9/11 were still fresh and the conventional wisdom held that radical Islamism represented an existential threat to the U。S。 Speaking of ‘conventional wisdom’， I’d say this is the biggest problem with the book。 Friedman seems to think the world works according to the rudimentary principles taught in Econ 101 … i。e。 that better education drives technical innovation which drives economic competition。 These are half-truths at best。 The other issue with the text， though no fault of Friedman’s， is that the book is dated。 Outsourcing may have been news in 2005 when the book was published， but economists have been echoing some version of these ideas for decades。 As a result， Friedman’s analysis comes across today as hackneyed and the technological advancements he describes as out of date。 This is epitomized by his rapturous description of a virtual， web-based meeting system that debuted in the early 2000’s at a cost of a mere $250，000 per business。 Given that so many of us have been doing remote video conferencing for the last 18 months of the pandemic using software available for free， I suspect this news will be received with the same enthusiasm as an announcement that bread will now come pre-sliced。 Here's where I feel like Friedman missed the target。 EducationA connected world has facilitated the outsourcing of many white-collar jobs。 This is epitomized by the tech support we receive from call centers in India。 With the loss of these decent paying jobs， Friedman believes that colleges and universities need to turn out more STEM graduates if Americans wish to retain the standard of living they've come to expect 。 Before we get started let me just say， as someone with 2 master’s degrees in engineering， I always get a kick out of liberal arts majors telling OTHERS they need to major in STEM … Friedman himself has a master’s degree in the not-so-high-tech field of Middle Eastern studies， and as far as I’m aware hasn’t invested any time or energy at all retraining for a STEM career。 Anyway … sure … we absolutely need STEM majors， but as the world discovered during the COVID pandemic， we need ‘essential workers’ as much if not more。 These are the folks that stock shelves， operate cash registers， wait on customers， deliver food， drive buses， fight fires and a host of other activities that would cause the country to grind to a halt if they failed to be performed。 How is this work going to get done if everyone majors in STEM？ Friedman doesn’t say， nor does he tell us how globalization will improve the economic condition of those in these low-wage jobs。 Like other elites in the chattering class， Friedman ignores this group of people entirely， believing （no doubt） that the labor market will provide an endless supply of cheap， unskilled labor willing to work for starvation wages。 Rather， most Americans could retain or improve their standard of living if companies were simply required to pay these workers a living wage。 But that is unlikely to occur because of …Rent SeekingFriedman believes that market competition is the primary driver of a business’s success。 In reality， the last thing companies want to do is to compete with one another on a free and level playing field。 Instead， they know that the easiest path to creating shareholder value is to utilize their economic clout to skew the rules of the economic game in their favor through rent-seeking， tax breaks， formation of monopolies， looting of federal and state treasuries， dismantling of environmental， safety and health regulations， privatizing profits， socializing losses and the suppression of competition， unions， wages and benefits。 Cronyism and rent-seeking have become integral to the way the largest companies do business。 There’s a reason they lavish donations on political parties and politicians … they receive obscenely lucrative returns on these investments。 Friedman seems oblivious to the myriad means that companies have at their disposal to exert political influence over the rules that govern the economic playing field。 Yet they are relentlessly doing so to the detriment of their countries and citizens because it’s a far easier means to generate profits than innovating new products and services。 ConclusionIt feels like Friedman has his finger on the pulse of the banal pundits who espouse conventional wisdom on the Sunday morning talk shows。 He echoes their words and sentiments without ever questioning their veracity or， more importantly， whether they tell a complete story。 That’s not to say he's entirely wrong。 Thanks to the flattening of global competition developing countries around the world are seeing a rise in the standard of living of their citizens。 But this is not happening in the U。S。 Instead， the rich get richer， the bulk of the population experiences 40 years of economic stagnation and the rising tide lifts the yachts of the 1%。 。。。more
Erik
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Widespread adoption of technologies/standards enables cultures， societies interconnections and lean strategies deployed locally or globally。 Whatever you are you are part of an efficient/inefficient chain。 This book is outdated and reading it on 2021 is a nostalgic look back。 This book is also about the future of work， the shifts of skills in some locations vs the specialization and scalability of resources at other locations
柴门闻犬吠
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good ，i read it in china university
Giang Magic
，
Repetitive and unethusiastic
Sangam Agarwal
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Great book to learn what is globalization。How to be successful in this biggest political force of this time。 After 15 years this book is relevant and it will be in 2050。Perfect book if somebody is in his 20s facing poverty and don't know what to doBest entrepreneur wherever you are America， China， India or Europe union Great book to learn what is globalization。How to be successful in this biggest political force of this time。 After 15 years this book is relevant and it will be in 2050。Perfect book if somebody is in his 20s facing poverty and don't know what to doBest entrepreneur wherever you are America， China， India or Europe union 。。。more
Kristaps
，
A shame I didn't read it when it came out years ago。 One of the rare forecast books that was spot on on most things。 What is the current "The earth is flat" analogue about next 20 years？ A shame I didn't read it when it came out years ago。 One of the rare forecast books that was spot on on most things。 What is the current "The earth is flat" analogue about next 20 years？ 。。。more
Toddy
，
I was enthralled by the history of the development of personal computers and global connectivity。 Reading the details of the 80s and 90s tech world blew my mind， as I remembered experiencing the beginning steps。 So fun to think of。 Amazing that Apple doesn’t exist in this book， maybe there was one mention of Steve Jobs。 I skipped over a chapter or two in the middle。 Then he drew me back in when he discussed terrorists， and his views on authoritarian Muslim countries contrasted with countries who I was enthralled by the history of the development of personal computers and global connectivity。 Reading the details of the 80s and 90s tech world blew my mind， as I remembered experiencing the beginning steps。 So fun to think of。 Amazing that Apple doesn’t exist in this book， maybe there was one mention of Steve Jobs。 I skipped over a chapter or two in the middle。 Then he drew me back in when he discussed terrorists， and his views on authoritarian Muslim countries contrasted with countries whose Muslim majority citizens have access to the freedoms and rights and opportunities that we know。 。。。more
Kevin Hoopes
，
Interesting to read this in 2021， when it was written before smartphones were a thing。 Tommy relies too much on anecdotes and stories for my taste， especially in the “flattened” chapters。 And his voice and tone is a little too hank hooper from 30 rock。 But ultimately his conclusions， analysis and predictions are very smart at their core。 Of course some of these ideas seem obvious in hindsight， but I wonder how obvious they were in 2005？ Probably not so much。 Solid read， long but breezy since the Interesting to read this in 2021， when it was written before smartphones were a thing。 Tommy relies too much on anecdotes and stories for my taste， especially in the “flattened” chapters。 And his voice and tone is a little too hank hooper from 30 rock。 But ultimately his conclusions， analysis and predictions are very smart at their core。 Of course some of these ideas seem obvious in hindsight， but I wonder how obvious they were in 2005？ Probably not so much。 Solid read， long but breezy since there are so many stories and quotes。 It reaches 4 stars for the strength of his analysis and predictions and the ideas he leaves you chewing on。 。。。more
Mark
，
While this is dated， it's still very relevant。 Also， be aware that it's long。 There is a lot of great information to chew on。 At times it was surprising now current it felt （and， of course， at other times the era really showed）。 I really valued reading this， and with the caveat that it is old， I recommend it。 While this is dated， it's still very relevant。 Also， be aware that it's long。 There is a lot of great information to chew on。 At times it was surprising now current it felt （and， of course， at other times the era really showed）。 I really valued reading this， and with the caveat that it is old， I recommend it。 。。。more
Sean Murphy
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Wow， dense， full of information， thought provoking， informative， well researched。 A little outdated， but I still enjoyed it。 The second from Thomas Friedman， and have enjoyed both。 A bit of info overload， but well worth it。
Việt Tiến
，
Interesting book。 The author is a journalist but his knowledge in tech， supply chain make me surprise。 The book look back to the periods of 1990-2003 with the fall of Berlin Wall， the birth of web browser， Apache， open source to the birth of Wallmart 's supply chain。。。 And then he do make some prediction and how we should approach the "flat" era， which unfortunately is today so not much to learn here but I picked up some interesting points。 The most impressive point is that he predicted if there Interesting book。 The author is a journalist but his knowledge in tech， supply chain make me surprise。 The book look back to the periods of 1990-2003 with the fall of Berlin Wall， the birth of web browser， Apache， open source to the birth of Wallmart 's supply chain。。。 And then he do make some prediction and how we should approach the "flat" era， which unfortunately is today so not much to learn here but I picked up some interesting points。 The most impressive point is that he predicted if there is a fast spread pandemic in "flat world"， the impact will be global as it's easier for human to travel and the virus as well。 And then after supply chain is stopped， the lack of medical goods will cause troubles。 。。。more
Kent McInnis
，
A great history of the development of technology。
Paul Folmsbee
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I really enjoyed this book - highly recommended。
Abhijeet Rane
，
It is a excellant book。 It shows that the author is very much aware about trend of things to come。 He has explained in simple English the phenomena of the flat world。 The title of the book is very apt and it is a play of words on the spherical shape of the earth。 The author shows good understanding of the Indian IT industry and does good predictions based on the day to day things he watches around him。The author educates the reader and at the time of publishing of the book it was indeed very edu It is a excellant book。 It shows that the author is very much aware about trend of things to come。 He has explained in simple English the phenomena of the flat world。 The title of the book is very apt and it is a play of words on the spherical shape of the earth。 The author shows good understanding of the Indian IT industry and does good predictions based on the day to day things he watches around him。The author educates the reader and at the time of publishing of the book it was indeed very educational as well informational book。 。。。more
Terry
，
Rosy colored glasses perspective of humanity and how technology and globalization trends will progress the human condition。 This is a con job that supports the hyperbole and hubris of the powers- that- be。 In the last analysis， all this rhetoric and technology exponentially accelerates our path to human extinction by exacerbating climate change， overpopulation， infinite economic growth， exhaustion and destruction of all natural resources; plus， ecocide and its resultant diseases and its extincti Rosy colored glasses perspective of humanity and how technology and globalization trends will progress the human condition。 This is a con job that supports the hyperbole and hubris of the powers- that- be。 In the last analysis， all this rhetoric and technology exponentially accelerates our path to human extinction by exacerbating climate change， overpopulation， infinite economic growth， exhaustion and destruction of all natural resources; plus， ecocide and its resultant diseases and its extinction of other species - that one day may also include homo sapiens。 How can the author miss the most salient threats to human existence in his research and advocate for the misguided benefits of globalization technolgical innovation？ In short， this book is more fiction than truth - but I say this with the advantage of hindsight。There was a time when I thought that The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize were beyond reproach - now I am not so sure - as it is amazingly self-evidence that they dance to the tunes of the military~industrial~consumer~congressional complex。 That is not good for democracy- but more importantly the existence of humanity。 。。。more
Ihor
，
Чудова， але дещо затягнута книжка про сучасні ринкові відносини。 Цікаво було подивитись на світ очима американця， як він бачить всі ці аутсорси， інсорси， офшоринги та ін。 штукенції модерного хутору під назвою Земля :） Мова книжки без зайвих викрутасів， тож в аудіо пішла на ура й окрім інформації отримав ще +10 до практики англійської。
Emma
，
（read for school）
Lan-Anh
，
Mình đọc quyển này muộn nên nó hơi outdated so với với thế giới trong hoàn cảnh hiện tại。Quyển sách tuy dài nhưng chủ yếu nói về globalization， phá bỏ rào cản giao thương，。。。 khá dễ hiểu nhưng không có gì mới。（"Flat" means communications， free trade， etc。） Mình đọc quyển này muộn nên nó hơi outdated so với với thế giới trong hoàn cảnh hiện tại。Quyển sách tuy dài nhưng chủ yếu nói về globalization， phá bỏ rào cản giao thương，。。。 khá dễ hiểu nhưng không có gì mới。（"Flat" means communications， free trade， etc。） 。。。more
John Fuentes Guzman
，
si leíste "gracias por llegar tarde" este libro lo puedes omitir。 pero sino es así， entonces， es un libro que debes leer si leíste "gracias por llegar tarde" este libro lo puedes omitir。 pero sino es así， entonces， es un libro que debes leer 。。。more
Lauren Theurkauf
，
Interesting read。 It was a glimpse into the past
Dmitry
，
Interesting and I thought provoking book。 Actually quite depressing。 Even though I am an immigrant （physician， who came on H1B visa） I can see the attitude changing and shifting in the United States。 And that's exactly what Friedman is warning about （back in 2008！）。He outlines with steps necessary to prevent degradation - they are obvious - increase finding of education， promote technical specialties and ambition of children， increase independence of current employer （healthcare， disability， inc Interesting and I thought provoking book。 Actually quite depressing。 Even though I am an immigrant （physician， who came on H1B visa） I can see the attitude changing and shifting in the United States。 And that's exactly what Friedman is warning about （back in 2008！）。He outlines with steps necessary to prevent degradation - they are obvious - increase finding of education， promote technical specialties and ambition of children， increase independence of current employer （healthcare， disability， income protection）， as well as many other important things。 It's depressing that a few if any of those suggestions were implemented。I can't recommend this book strong enough （particular to lawyers pretending to be leaders in Washington）。 My main criticism - could be shorter。 。。。more
Bridge
，