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April 26, 2005

Tom Friedman's Flat World
 New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has a new book out titled "The World Is Flat" in which he continues his ruminations on the reasons for and the effects of globalization. In this work, he details events, technological advances and world of work facets that have led to flat world economics.

He covers 10 changes from the 1990s to the present that precipitated this:
  1. the Berlin Wall coming down on Nov. 9, 1989
  2. Netscape going public on Aug. 9, 1995
  3. workflow - described as shorthand for software applications connecting to one another 
The internet and dot.com boom providing the building and growth of an information infrastructure, which Friedman compares to the expansion of the railroads in the U.S. But the difference this time is the factors are aiding talent in foreign countries.

Friedman then lists the growth of six new ways (he calls them flatteners) in which individuals and companies collaborate regardless of geography:
  1.  outsourcing  
  2. offshoring   
  3. open sourcing 
  4. insourcing  
  5. supply chaining
  6. informing  
Then he writes came the monster assisters:
  1. wireless communication and voice over Internet allowing multiple forms of collaboration and work in real time
This is fascinating material, reminiscent of James Burke's "Connections" presentations where the connectivity of people, places, things and events were brought to light. But Burke generally focused on the past. Friedman's beacon is on the present and the future.

He expresses major concerns about the present and future economic competitiveness of the United States, detailing the declining quality of education here, the lower number of students entering engineering fields versus other countries such as China and India and the limiting of U.S. educational and work visas as an outgrowth of 9/11. These negatives are in addition to the changes and flatteners above that are putting high-paying, quality employment in this country in peril.

Friedman does write that the United States can turn things around by addressing these barriers to worldwide competitiveness.  He notes that the next 'Google' is out there waiting to be created but that this country had better change quickly if the 'next big thing' is to happen here and not elsewhere.

It's a great read but (at least) one big question remains: even if this country reverses current policies, becomes more competitive and 'next big thing' is borne in the United States, what's to stop the new company(ies) parenting it from utilizing elements 4-10 above? Headquarters of the next 'Google' may have a United States address but why wouldn't the engineering/manufacturing/sales components be located elsewhere where labor force costs, land, utilities, taxes, etc. would be demonstrably cheaper?

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