...The World is Flatter With Some Spikes To me both authors are saying the same thing, but they are looking at it from different view points. Thomas Friedman says, “In a flat world you can innovate without having to emigrate.” While Richard Florida says, “ In terms of both sheer economic horsepower and cutting edge innovation, surprisingly few regions truly matter in today’s global economy.” I feel that both are right the world is flatter than in the past, but there are the important spikes. Friedman says the world is flat due to technology and Florida says technology has made the largest cities larger while leaving the valleys behind. I believe that technology has allowed people in the “valleys” to be more creative, find others’ information and build upon it, and test their ideas all from the comfort of their homes. They may have to move to a large city or spike to really make their idea a success, but they may have a better chance than if they just moved to a spike. I think that there will always be spikes because there must be a central place for people to meet and collaborate with one another. This is when the best ideas come together and become more powerful. There are always the people who can do this all remotely like the Apache people in the, World is Flat. For the most part I feel that Silicon Valley would not have been as powerful had everyone stayed in their original location. Plus not every city in the world can be a spike or flat, it would eliminate competition...
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...Summary of The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman LENGTH: 4976 words HEADLINE: It's a Flat World, After All BYLINE: By Thomas L. Friedman. Thomas L. Friedman is the author of ''The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century,'' to be published this week by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and from which this article is adapted. His column appears on the Op-Ed page of The Times, and his television documentary ''Does Europe Hate Us?'' will be shown on the Discovery Channel on April 7 at 8 p.m. BODY: In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail for India, going west. He had the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He never did find India, but he called the people he met ''Indians'' and came home and reported to his king and queen: ''The world is round.'' I set off for India 512 years later. I knew just which direction I was going. I went east. I had Lufthansa business class, and I came home and reported only to my wife and only in a whisper: ''The world is flat.'' And therein lies a tale of technology and geoeconomics that is fundamentally reshaping our lives -- much, much more quickly than many people realize. It all happened while we were sleeping, or rather while we were focused on 9/11, the dot-com bust and Enron -- which even prompted some to wonder whether globalization was over. Actually, just the opposite was true, which is why it's time to wake up and prepare ourselves for this flat world, because others already are, and there is no time to waste. I wish I could say I saw...
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...THE CAUSES OF AMERICAN BUSINESS CYCLES: AN ESSAY IN ECONOMIC HISTORIOGRAPHY Peter Temin* This paper surveys American business cycles over the past century. Its task is to identify the causes of these cycles; other papers in this collection address the nature of policy responses to these causes. This paper can be seen as a test to discriminate between two views of the American economy. The first is expressed in a characteristically vivid statement by Dornbusch, who proclaimed recently: “None of the U.S. expansions of the past 40 years died in bed of old age; every one was murdered by the Federal Reserve” (Dornbusch 1997). This stark view can be contrasted with its opposite in the recent literature: “[N]one of the popular candidates for observable shocks robustly accounts for the bulk of business-cycle fluctuations in output” (Cochrane 1994, p. 358). I expand the time period to consider the past century, but it is easy to distinguish the past 40 years, that is, the period since World War II. A survey of business cycle causes over an entire century runs into several problems, of which three seem noteworthy. First, it is not at all clear what “cause” means in this context. Second, the Great Depression was such a large cycle that it cannot be seen as just another data point. Third, the survey relies on the existing literature on business cycles, which is why I have entitled it an essay in economic historiography. The paper proceeds by discussing each of these problems in turn, then...
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...Massive open online courses (MOOC's) are going to destroy traditional educational institutions. Depending where you stand on this subject you might agree or disagree with this statement. After reading articles by Karen Head and Thomas Friedman I have changed my point of view various times. My thoughts on the variety of problems that arise out of MOOCs are many and will be covered throughout this paper. My proposal is MOOCs need a lot of work and years of research before they can be relevant in today’s society. MOOC is a great new idea. While it has not been smooth sailing I(Head) still see this as an important adventure (Head). I (Friedman) can see a day soon where you’ll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world (Friedman). These authors both agree on the possibilities of MOOCs being a good idea. I do believe that Friedman is a little more enthusiastic about the whole process and its potential. Large courses do not work. Unlike Friedman, Head has actual experience setting up and dealing with running MOOCs. I noticed a lot of negativity from Head-She makes comments about the issues that arose during her MOOC. Among those issues were security, time and amount of work put in to it. While these are valid points, I am an instructor in the Navy, and even a simple 3 week class takes a lot of work to set up and deliver. I am actually surprised Head did not claim to put more work into her MOOC which is possibly...
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...(1996), consumption is the total of goods and services that people in the economy wish to purchase for the purpose of immediate consumption. More importantly, consumption is one of the main determinants of an economy’s aggregate demand and economists can therefore estimated the aggregate demand as well as evaluate the effects of fiscal policy based on the determinates of consumption. This essay will commence by explaining the Keynesian consumption function and the consumption puzzle. It will then discuss the Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis before explaining the difference of marginal propensity to consume between cross-section data and long-term time series data. Finally, it will conclude that permanent income hypothesis by Milton Friedman provides a more complete model for people to research consumption and aggregate demand. The Basic Keynesian Function Over the past few decades, there are lots of works have done to research consumption. The most famous study is J M Keynes’s General Theory published during America’s great depression. Keynesian consumption function associate changes in consumption with current disposable income. The simple Keynesian consumption function is given by the equation: C =c0 + c1 (Y-T), Which shows...
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...Review of Thomas L. Friedman’s The World is Flat EDWARD E. LEAMER∗ Geography, flat or not, creates special relationships between buyers and sellers who reside in the same neighborhoods, but Friedman turns this metaphor inside-out by using The World is Flat to warn us of the perils of a relationship-free world in which every economic transaction is contested globally. In his “flat” world, your wages are set in Shanghai. In fact, most of the footloose relationship-free jobs in apparel and footwear and consumer electronics departed the United States several decades ago, and few U.S. workers today feel the force of Chinese and Indian competition, notwithstanding the alarming anecdotes about the outsourcing of intellectual services. Of course, standardization, mechanization, and computerization all work to increase the number of footloose tasks, but innovation and education work in the opposite direction, creating relationship-based activities—like the writing of this review. It may only be personal conceit, but I imagine there is a reason why the Journal of Economic Literature asked me to do this review. 1. Prologue hen the Journal of Economic Literature asked me to write a review of The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2005) by Thomas Friedman, I responded with enthusiasm, knowing it wouldn’t take much effort on my part. As ∗ Leamer: Anderson Graduate School of Management, Department of Economics and Department of Statistics, UCLA...
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...1 The process of defining relationships among data to create useful information requires ______ knowledge 2 _____ are people who create, use, and disseminate knowledge and are usually professionals in science, engineering, business, and other areas. Knowledge workers 3 Data that can be used for a variety of purposes is said to be ______. Flexible 4 In information systems, _____ is used to make changes to input or processing activities. Feedback 5 ____ consists of computer programs that govern the operation of the computer. Software 6 An _____ is a network based on Web technologies that allows only selected outsiders, such as business partners and customers, to access authorized resources of a company’s intranet. Extranet 7 ____ is (are) considered to be the most important element in a computer-based information system. People 8 ___ involves using information systems and the Internet to acquire parts and supplies. e-procurement 9 A set of integrated programs that manages vital business operations for an entire multisite, global organization. enterprise resource planning system 10 A(n) _____ is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices that support problem-specific decision making. DSS 11 The ______ is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices to create, store, share, and use the organization’s knowledge and experience. knowledge management system 12 _____ is a branch of...
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...THE ECONOMIC THEORIES OF MILTON FRIEDMAN The Economic Theories of Milton Friedman Milton Friedman was one of the top and most influential economists whose conservative economic theories became influential during the last part of the twentieth century. This paper will explore his economic theories and how his policies were embraced by some conservative politicians but are not as widely adopted today. Milton Friedman would famously say “there is no such thing as a free lunch” (Moore 2012). What he meant was that everything comes with an opportunity cost. If the government spends money then that money must come from the private economy. He was an advocate of capitalism and his views helped revive modern capitalism in the latter part of the twentieth century. He was a proponent of the free market economic system and was opposed to government interference in the economy. Many of his theories have become accepted and lauded by modern day conservative politicians. Milton Friedman was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1912 to immigrant parents. He was awarded a scholarship to Rutgers University where he majored in mathematics. While at Rutgers he became interested in economics due to the poor state of the economy during the Great Depression. After graduating from Rutgers University he went on to receive his master’s degree from the University of Chicago and then on to Columbia University for his doctoral work (Academy of Achievement...
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...of sixteen. His father died during his senior year of high school. Friedman wanted to attended college even though it meant he would have to pay for it by himself. Luckily for Friedman, he was awarded a scholarship from Rutgers University. Friedman enjoyed mathematics and he went to school with the intentions of becoming an actuary (a person finds ways to manage potential risks), instead of what he is now famous for, economics. During his four years at Rutgers, he specialized in mathematics and went as far to taking a few actuarial examines. However, shortly after, he became interested in economics and eventually ended with a major in both actuary and economics. In Freidman’s autobiography, he mentions two men who helped him better understand economics. Arthur Burns, one of the men mentioned, was teaching at Rutgers while completing his doctorate for Columbia. “Burns shaped my understanding of economic research, introduced me to the highest scientific standards, and became a guiding influence on my subsequent career” (citation). Homer Jones was the other individual who had an impact on Friedman’s life. Jones introduced Freidman to rigorous economic theory, made economics exciting and relevant, and encouraged him to go on to graduate work. With Jones recommendation, the Chicago Economics Department offered Friedman a scholarship. He began attending classes at Chicago in 1932. According to Friedman, the most important event of that year was meeting an extremely bright...
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...THE GREAT DEPRESSION. * The Great Depression was the great economic crisis that is said to have been started because of the U.S. stock-market crash in 1929. * Many people lost their jobs. By 1932, 25–30% of people lost their jobs. They became homeless and poor. This ended the wealth of the Roaring Twenties. * From 1929-1932, the depression was at its worst. * Many suspect that increased taxes on American citizens and the increased tariffs (taxes on countries which trade with the United States) worsened it. * Economist Milton Friedman said that the Great Depression was worsened because the Federal Reserve printed out less money than usual. * John Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ during the great depression and the setting of the book is during the great depression as well. THE AMERICAN DREAM. * The American Dream after and also during the great depression was to own a piece of land making them open to limitless opportunities. * Most of all, it was to have freedom and independence. They wanted to be free from working for anyone and they wanted to live free from relying on wages to get through life. * This dream also included to have stability in their lives. * The American Dream was first known about in 1931 where the author; James Truslow Adams wrote in his book (The Epic of America): "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according...
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...Notes on The World is Flat (Friedman, 2006) Summary and excerpts from Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat (2006) by Bill Altermatt CHAPTER 2: THE TEN FORCES THAT FLATTENED THE WORLD page 1 What Tom Friedman means by the phrase “The World is Flat” is that “the global competitive playing field is being leveled…It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world” (p. 8). Friedman believes that this “flattening” of the world is the result of ten factors, which he outlines in chapter 2 of his book: Flattener #1: “11/9/89, The New Age of Creativity: When the Walls Came Down and the Windows Went Up.” On 11/9/89, the Berlin Wall fell (“the Walls Came Down”) and the citizens of the former Soviet empire were suddenly able to participate in the global economy. Friedman uses the fall of the Berlin Wall as a symbol for a general global shift towards democratic governments and free-market economies (where consumers determine prices based on what they’re willing to pay) and away from authoritarian governments and centrally planned economies (in which prices are set by government officials). India made the conversion from a centrally planned economy to a free-market system two years after the Berlin Wall fell, when its economy was on the brink of collapse. Their annual rate of India’s...
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...of the firm was to keep the shareholders at the front line of their decisions. When an insurance company decides what they are going to do to target their customers they make sure that they are going to have a profit so that the shareholders are happy. Another aspect of this paper is going to be on whether or not the government should have a role in the goal of the firm rights of those involved seem to be taken away. The Goal of the Firm The Friedman goal of the firm is that they take the shareholder into consideration when it comes to a profit. He believes that the sole purpose of the goal is to make sure that profits are maximized so that a portion of that profit can be provided to the shareholders, especially if there is a risk in the investment of the company. Not only does Friedman believe that the goal of the firm is to gain a profit for the shareholder but to not have any social responsibilities. In his book Capitalism and Freedom Friedman talks about totalitarianism, which is where the state has control over all aspects of the public and private sector. This is what happens when a company focuses on the "community" rather than the profits that can be made. The only way for a company to make a good profit is they need to make sure that the “proper pricing” is taken into consideration. According to Skousen (2012), “depending on the right prices for a product or service, based on the consumer demand and the company’s competition...
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...Introduction How did economist get everything so wrong? This question is a great question to ask and if you ask the author of the article that was published on the New York Times in September 2, 2009, Mr. Paul Krugman. His response would be that is the economist own fault and problem to why in 2008 the economy fail and we went on a recession. The reason to why he says that it is the economist own fault to why we went on recession was that the economist thought that they had figured out the perfect economy policy due to their research and mathematical formulas that made them think that they had solved the mystery of a perfect non recession economy. So what I mean is that in a way they thought there research and thoughts were bullet proof of recessions and even worse another great depression. Furthermore, in this article Paul goes into deep detail to why economists are the way they are and also if they would ever change their beliefs in the future. However Paul does mention in this article that there are very few economist that did predict that a recession would happen in the future, but due to the fact of hoe cocky economist were with their formula an research that they actually laughed at the these few economist, but at it is said whoever laughs last laughs better. Article Background In this article Paul gives a total description of how we reached our recession in 2008 and he starts giving out details from the history of economy and how the first great depression...
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...Photography and Social Reform John Gizzi ART 125 September 28, 2015 Sarah Baer After watching the video and reading through the assigned readings for the week it became very clear how big of a role photography played during the great depression. Roy Stryker and his team of photographers had a nearly impossible challenge to move and motivate an entire country. Their original job was to convince congress that the millions of displaced Americans desperately needed the government’s assistance. However this was a tough notion to sell to congress and the rest of Americans who were not living through the struggles themselves. There was a huge disconnect between the families affected by the depression and families that had made it through the depression unscathed. The photograph was used by Stryker and his team to document the reality of what was happening all over the American country side. They had to present it in such a way that it did not come across as propaganda. At the time Americans were fed up with the government’s propaganda following the war. The photographs took during this time were able to put a human face and emotion to the barren fields and deserted farms. Photos were used as a tool to communicate the truth and stories of millions of victims of the Great Depression. These iconic photos spoke more than a thousand words, they evoked emotions and understanding throughout the United States. These photos had the power to unite an entire nation. During this course...
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...Thomas Sowell’s interview on basic economics covered many issue such housing crises, high Taxations, spending 17 % of our GDP on healthcare, trade balance, and currency threats in the future. His main focus was the negative side effects of government intervention in a capitalistic market that can lead to downfall of an economy such as the housing crises in 2008. Thomas Sowell wants to limit government intervention and promotes free trade, the same economics that was advocated by Adam smith and Milton Friedman, the right to buy and sell goods and services without interference from the State, the right to have economic freedom without price and wage control from the central government. Thomas Sowell opposes the welfare system strongly, because it increases unemployment, government debt, and inefficiency in the system. Although Thomas Sowell does not specifically talk about welfare system in America in his interview with Peter Robinson, but we can conclude that welfare system is a government intervention to help the needy and end poverty in a country. So therefore, he strongly oppose the welfare system in America because taking wealth from the wealthy and distributing it among the poor creates inefficiency in the capitalistic system and increase the gap of inequality in America. According to Dr. Sowell people who lives in poverty will abuse the system of welfare by not working hard and becoming extremely dependent on wealthy tax payers, basically the government is paying the...
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