The World is Flat

I recently happened to read the book " The world is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Its a hugely popular book and Friedman is one of the most respected names in International affairs. ( I think therein lies the problem , Friedman has excellent knowledge of middle east and foreign affairs but somehow I find it difficult to digest when he writes an economics based book on Globalization). Nevertheless, the book is a nice leisurely read.

Friedman says he got the idea for this book when interviewing Nandan Nilekani ( CEO , Infosys). Interestingly, I was watching CNBC last week and Nandan was talking about Infosys' quarterly earnings and guess what he said " The World is flat " .

So what is driving a flat world -- Globalization, Free trade & of course Technology.

Also happened to read Nandan's interview in yesterday's New York Times , a few interesting Q&A ( Courtesy : New York Times) :

Q. Are you worried about the outcry over outsourcing in America?

A. What's happening is pretty fundamental. If you go back to the 1830's, India and China were 50 percent of the world's G.D.P., and then they missed the entire revolution of industry. So if you take a long view of this game, it's just part of the process.

Q. Does it feel odd to find yourself lecturing Americans on the joys of capitalism?

A. You guys told us for so many years to cut out this socialist rubbish and go to free markets. We came to free markets and now you're telling us, "Stop, don't come."