The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization
Written by Thomas L. Friedman
Narrated by Thomas L. Friedman
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Now Friedman has drawn on his years on the road to produce an engrossing and original look at the new international system that, more than anything else, is shaping world affairs today: globalization.
His argument can be summarized quite simply. Globalization is not just a phenomenon and not just a passing trend. It is the international system that replaced the Cold War system. Globalization is the integration of capital, technology and information across national borders, in a way that is creating a single global market and to some degree, a global village. You cannot understand the morning news or know where to invest you money or think about where the world is going unless you understand this new system, which is influencing the domestic policies and international relations of virtually every country in the world today. And once you do understand the world as Friedman explains it, you'll never look at it quite the same way again.
Using original terms and concepts -- from "The Electronic Herd" to "DOScapital 6.0" -- Friedman shows us how to see this new system. With vivid stories, he dramatizes the conflict of "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" -- the tension between the globalization system and ancient forms of culture, geography, tradition and community -- and spells out what we all need to do to keep this system in balance.
Finding the proper balance between the Lexus and the olive tree is the great drama of the globilization era, and the ultimate theme of Friedman's challenging, provocative book -- essential listening for all who care about how the world really works.
Thomas L. Friedman
Thomas L. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist-the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of numerous bestselling books, among them From Beirut to Jerusalem and The World Is Flat. He was born in Minneapolis in 1953, and grew up in the middle-class Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. He graduated from Brandeis University in 1975 with a degree in Mediterranean studies, attended St. Antony's College, Oxford, on a Marshall Scholarship, and received an M.Phil. degree in modern Middle East studies from Oxford. After three years with United Press International, he joined The New York Times, where he has worked ever since as a reporter, correspondent, bureau chief, and columnist. At the Times, he has won three Pulitzer Prizes: in 1983 for international reporting (from Lebanon), in 1988 for international reporting (from Israel), and in 2002 for his columns after the September 11th attacks. Friedman's first book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, won the National Book Award in 1989. His second book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization (1999), won the Overseas Press Club Award for best book on foreign policy in 2000. In 2002 FSG published a collection of his Pulitzer Prize-winning columns, along with a diary he kept after 9/11, as Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11. His fourth book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (2005) became a #1 New York Times bestseller and received the inaugural Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in November 2005. A revised and expanded edition was published in hardcover in 2006 and in 2007. The World Is Flat has sold more than 4 million copies in thirty-seven languages. In 2008 he brought out Hot, Flat, and Crowded, which was published in a revised edition a year later. His sixth book, That Used to Be Us: How American Fell Behind in the World We Invented and How We Can Come Back, co-written with Michael Mandelbaum, was published in 2011. It was followed by Thank You For Being Late in 2016. Thomas L. Friedman lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family.
More audiobooks from Thomas L. Friedman
From Beirut to Jerusalem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Lexus and the Olive Tree
Related audiobooks
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5FairTax:The Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Eleventh Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stocks for the Long Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/513 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wealth of Nations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Get A Financial Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Pillars of Investing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flash Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thin Green Line: The Money Secrets of the Super Wealthy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uncharted: How to Navigate the Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Economics For You
Economics 101: How the World Works Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nudge: The Final Edition: Improving Decisions About Money, Health, And The Environment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Intelligent Investor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why the Rich Are Getting Richer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Freakonomics Rev Ed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marvel Comics: The Untold Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the World Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed or Fail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Lexus and the Olive Tree
407 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was one of the most significant I've ever read to understand human society in a global way. Certainly not to read only once and highly recommendable to anyone who wants to understand the world today, how it works and where it's going in the near future.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great way to learn the world of economics in a few sessions. Good insight and real world experiences paint a picture of what was and what will.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Globalization reminds me of compound interest, those who understand it, earn it; those who don't, pay it. It's something that affects individuals, neighborhoods, cities and for sure countries. Businesses could grow by embracing it and the same time could close by ignoring it. We take it for granted nowadays, we just open our phones and talk live with our cousin living thousands of kilometres away and we can buy a stock in our favourite online broker. We need to be cautious though, it's a hard game.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book does incredibly well in explaining the complicated topic of globalization. It's very readable but is not dumbed-down in any manner. Mr. Friedman tries hard to be objective with his views of the world. Although on some chapters, you can tell that he belongs to the optimistic group of the globalization debate. Whether or not you agree with his perspective, it still is worthwhile to read to see if his pronouncements will atleast challenge your own position.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I picked this early book by Thomas Friedman after reading his latter book 'The World is Flat' fascinated by globalisation and details of its spread. The book enhanced my understanding about globalisation as a new system replacing old Cold War system. Lexus (depicting modern / latest) emerging alongside Olive Tree (ancient / traditional forces of culture and community) is the core theme of the book. Highly detailed book on the subject.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I accidentally shoplifted this book from Housing Works Used Book Cafe, oops.
Considering how of-the-moment it was in say 1999, I'm not sure how well it's aged. Needs another read. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Globalization" might be the mother of all buzzwords, a catch-all explanation for anything that's happened in the last thirty or so years that's grown nearly meaningless from overuse. In "The Lexus and the Olive Tree," Thomas Freidman does a pretty good job of framing this pheonomenon in a social, historical, and economic context that the average reader can relate to. Freidman obviously thinks of himself as something of a Rennaisance man, a polymath of the old school, and in a sense, this is where the strengths of his book lie. His generalist approach and strong grasp of Cold War-era politics serve him very well when he explains why globalization is the inevitable result of a post-Soviet, unipolar world. He also deserves some credit for mentioning, if not fully exploring, the various downsides to a globalized world. He acknowledges that globalization has its victims and that some people's misgivings about it are probably well-founded. He's still a booster, of course, and, perhaps because he's a newspaper columnist, can't help but try to make a case every time he sets pen to paper, but he's more aware of his argument's weaknesses than many free-traders out there. My objections to "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" are due, perhaps, to the tempremental differences between myself and Mr. Freidman. Freidman, a midwesterner, seems to be a born optimist, something my Yankee constitution just can't abide. As a lefty, I'm much more likely to see unbridled capitalism's downsides than its promieses, and while Freidman moved me to reconsider some of my positions, I don't know if he's convinced me. His enthusiasm for technology hasn't aged well, either, considering that "Lexus" was written ten years ago and the internet has since been done to death in about a trillion uninspired trend pieces. The Friedman of the late nineties would doubtless be disappointed to know that these days it's used mostly as a conduit for pictures of cute cats and scads of hardcore pornography. Friedman's America-centric, which I can forgive, and an inveterate name-dropper, which is somewhat less forgivable. What really worries me, though, is that even though Friedman's a tolerable writer with a clear, friendly tone, he's awful at coining phrases and drawing visual comparisons in his arguments, even though it's clear that he very much enjoys doing both of these things. George Orwell would argue that this is a sign of a disordered mind or a lousy argument. I am betting that Freidman's just a writer whose arguments are better than his metaphors. "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" is, despite its faults, recommended to those who want to know what to say the next time the G-word comes up in conversation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friedman does take the "big picture" of globalization and brings it down to the small conclaves of Africa and other lower levels of the economic system. Perhaps this is most interesting as a book for periodic rereading to trace how globalization is proceeding and Friedman admits it is not standing still. Writing the month of the World Cup in South Africa it is instructive to check out his personal experience in India when a former shoe shine boy in 1998 has 27 channels from 6 different countries illegally accessed at his house (where his wife is learning English from the TV). Friedman, himself a part of the information business, focuses on the democratization of information, not just the spread of goods and capital. In the last 12 years how information exchange has exploded with more to come.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A generalist's take on globalization. The books starts off with some interesting anecdotes and discussions. But it goes and on rambling about the same thing. Another downside is that Friedman assume s the reader to be so dumb that some of his descriptions sounds too childish. A big minus of the book is that, apart from being US-centric the book is like a piece of propagandist pamphlet. It shies away from many issues raised by the opponents of Globalization. For example there is almost no discussion on asymmetries in trade.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Let's extrapolate global events from personal anecdotes!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Written by a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist, the author explores how globalization is changing the world.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Combined with The World is Flat, this is a must read for understanding globalization.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the is good about globalism and its inevitability is praised by Fredman. A good read even if you don't agree entirely with his outlook.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5This man loves his metaphors a little too much.