Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

The updated and expanded version of The World is Flat, released only a year after the original, promises a timely evaluation of the technological factors that have made advances in a year’s time such as blogs, podcasts, and open-source software.  

Using for his title, and as continuous metaphor throughout the book, the both illustrative and historically polemical concept of a flat world, it is little surprise that Thomas L. Friedman’s The World is Flat has received mixed reviews.  Positive reviews call his understanding and presentation of the increasingly connected global economy ingenuous and insightful.  Others feel that Friedman has tried to get too much out of an inaccurate metaphor and said little new in his unnecessarily long and wordy book. 

Both the original and the updated editions explain the increasingly “flat” world of business and trade in which the lowering of trade barriers and swift advancements in technology (and access to it) are creating a world of more equal opportunity for both emerging and established markets.  Friedman focuses on the rising roles of China and India in the world economy, showing that globalization is not being directed by large corporate or trade organizations alone, but also by freelancers and entrepreneurs.  He offers many examples to illustrate his point, and invites the reader along as he travels, investigates, and interviews. 

Perhaps the most useful addition to the updated and expanded version is the call to action for those who want to help America keep up in the new world economy.  While the first edition called our attention to comparative failures in the American education and health care systems and showed how they are leaving America increasingly disadvantaged in the new, leveling economic world, the second edition offers ideas for businesses and individuals wishing to stay on top of it all, including advice for parents and teachers to help the next generation better negotiate a “flat world.”    

Critics of The World is Flat recommend readers pass up The World Is Flat in favor of Jagdish Bhagwati's In Defence of Globalisation or Martin Wolf's Why Globalisation Works for a more concise and enlightening account of globalization.