The Lexus And The Olive Tree Summary

That this was also the decade in which globalization came into full swing is more than a minor inconvenience for its advocates” (Rodrick). If globalization is supposed to present an advantage to developing countries, why have there been so many setbacks? Indeed, both sides will have its winners and losers regardless of which side of the development coin they live on, but for the most part globalization has lifted millions out of poverty, improved the standard of living, and increased life expectancy rates all while keeping developed nations relatively competitive to their developing counterparts. Globalization’s value is that it seeks to create an economic equilibrium in the world, where parties are free from barriers and can benefit from one another through a more efficient allocation of resources. This allows all participating nations to contribute to an integrated economy and where all nations willing to embrace globalization have the potential to benefit. Regardless, the path to successful integration to the global economy has not always been easy. There is contention towards globalization as some argue that it is detrimental to developed nations, while many developing countries that were forced to hastily open up their markets and integrate failed. However, if implemented properly, globalization has proven that it can benefit all parties involved and that the potential gains outweigh the losses.

Globalization is the process by which the markets of different countries become integrated due to the exchange of goods, services, technology, and capital. Globalization depends on social, economic, and political factors, and continuously alters the way that the world works. All the vital components of the evolving global, political, economic and social institutions being examined seem to constantly converge and to perpetually intertwine during the day to day administration of global affairs. Diplomacy is employed to keep a measured balance between conflict and cooperation. The global guarantees of international law are placed in sharp contrast to the grim reality of human rights on daily basis and policy is dictated by the scales of political power and the urgent priorities of economic necessity. To understand how the globe functioned in the past and how it wishes to function in the future, we must study each factor separately and observe its inevitable interactivity with the other factors that occur. It is important to note that none of the dynamics can be given greater weight in comparison to the other crucial instrumentalities.

We are said to be living in a world with a transparent and yet to develop war. But how can anyone really see it and understand it if no one is aware of how tragic events happen, who and how many people, countries and nations are behind it and how it all connects to technology. At least, that is what Thomas L. Freidman writes about in his article “Globalization: The Super-Story”. Friedman's article was a very interesting read, especially since it touches upon some pretty dense and forgotten subjects, such as global politics, technology and history. When I read the title of this article I expected Friedman to discuss about global markets and the interaction of nations yet I was amazed when he expanded on the supermarkets and how globalization

Technology has made the world a smaller place. Recent innovations in jets, satellites, and computers have made communication across the globe faster. People are now able to travel to any destination they want in less than a day, so why can’t businesses travel as well? Globalization intends to answer that question. New technology has increased worldwide trade and investment by allowing more companies to trade at a faster rate. Thomas Friedman considers globalization to be “farther, faster, cheaper, and deeper than ever before” (9). Multinational corporations that have entered globalization can now trade their business wherever labor is the cheapest.

So far Thomas Friedman has identified three eras of globalization. Globalization 1.0 lasted from 1492 (when Columbus set sail to the ‘new world’) to 1800. Friedman describes this as when we “shrank the world from a size large to a size medium” (9). This era began discovering new lands and set up trade with outside civilizations. Globalization 2.0 lasted from 1800 to 2000 when the world transformed to a “size small” due to the industrial revolution and the expansion of multinational corporations. And finally, globalization 3.0 when the world went flat because of remarkable technological advancements. Other nations, including those in the third world category, are finally able to access vast amounts of knowledge, and their previously closed off economies are now open to provide more work for their people. The economies of these nations exploded from a large labor force and exportation, but the American economy didn’t do as great. From 2000 to 2014, the share of adults living in middle-income households fell in 203 of the 229 US metropolitan areas. Global commerce has been dominated by transnational companies that do not care for individual countries, but rather cheap wages and productivity, which undeveloped nations have. Jobs that require high school diplomas, or are plain simple, are either sold off to another country or automated. Automation is the replacement of human beings with robots or machines in order to reduce salary expenses and

Globalization is a phenomenon that has been impacting our world since as early as 114 BCE. Globalization refers to the assimilation of different economies, trade, and communication. Its origins can be traced back to the establishment of the Silk Road; an ancient trade route extending across from China to the Mediterranean Sea. Globalization, throughout history has had a positive effect in developing economies and creating trade. However, in light of recent events, many economists and leaders are describing it as a barrier to a utopian society. As civil servant and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kofi Annan once said, “Globalization is a fact of life. But I believe we have underestimated its fragility” (Annan 1999). In many parts of the world, globalization

The world is not a large and strange place anymore. The world is a place that is interconnected and intertwined. The world has become from a place that each country and their peoples are separate and isolated to a place that each country and their peoples are part of a global network. Thanks to globalization this is occurring. Globalization is the ‘international integration” or ‘de-bordering’ – “a number of highly disparate observations whose regular common denominator is the determination of a profound transformation of the traditional nation-state” (Von Bogdandy 2). Globalization is connecting different people from different cultures and backgrounds together. More and more corporations are entering new foreign markets to sell their

In this chapter, Thomas Friedman looks at how cultures and societies will have to deal with and adapt to the changes that globalization brings to the way of doing business. It affects whole companies and individuals. He gives the perception of the world is flattening by comparing the Industrial Revolution to the IT Revolution that is happening right now. The flattening process was identified by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels in the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848. Marx’s writings about capitalism state “the inexorable march of technology and capital to remove all barriers, boundaries, frictions, and restraints to global commerce (Friedman 234).”

Globalization has transformed the world economy over the past years. The spread of ideas and technology across borders has facilitated new avenues of trade, creating new markets and expanding others. However not only has the world benefitted

“Today, most of the world is integrated into a single global economy, unlike during the cold war era” (Karon, and Hayoun 1). In today’s economy, neither the United States nor Russia is the largest player in the global economy, that position is leaning towards going to China in the near future. The end of the world-wide political rivalry between Russia and the United States has affected all other parts of the world as well.” Latin America today is largely independent of the once jealously enforced primacy of the United States; European influence over African politics has waned” (Karon and Hayoun 1). Global communication has greatly increased as well, since the end fall of the

In Thomas L. Friedman’s “Globalization: The Super-Story”, he examines the features of globalization from various aspects and how it helps people better understand 9/11 events. He claims that globalization is the new improved system formed in place of the old “cold war system”(102), and through the patterns of which, people observe today’s world in an integrated way. Simple short phrases, organized structure, colloquial language, and punctuation are techniques Friedman uses to create a reader-friendly, convincing essay. To begin with, Friedman uses simple short phrases to emphasize his points. He starts with an enthusiastic term “big believer” (102), which establishes the colloquial

Globalization is difficult to simply define due to the variety of changing definitions that have been established over previous decades. Hamilton and Webster (2012) suggest that globalization is the connection between nations, defining globalization as a process in which barriers are reduced in order to encourage exchanges between countries. This view proposes that globalization refers very much so to the trade barriers and the improved communications between countries in order to ensure the world is unified. Globalization increases economic activity across the world and opens up markets for foreign investment.

The last century has brought dramatic changes to the world. The globe has become more integrated, linking countries together economically, socially, and politically. Yet, as a result of this globalization, the world economy has become

“Globalization is not just one impact of the new technologies that are reshaping the economies of the third millennium” (Thurow 19-31). When speaking of globalization, most people will not have a complete understanding as of what it actually means or what aspects of the world it affects. Globalization promotes free trade and creates jobs. The capital markets attract investors, resort cheap labor, and leads to job losses in some areas of higher wage. While all of this is happening, the world economy is being effected: economically, culturally, socially, and politically.

Across the world, globalization is one of the most significant aspects that has occurred over the last fifty years. It allows a country to integrate economically with other countries through a global network comprised of people, trade, and transportation. With the global landscape only becoming more intertwined, globalization and its inherent pros and cons seem to be here to stay. In many areas, global powers tend to lack in rectifying the negative aspects and only focus on the positive side. America, for example, is a leader in the globalization efforts, even though it has greatly effected job opportunities at home, widening income gaps, and an increased standard of living due to fluctuating world markets.