The world is flat ... or isn´t?

Following Ingrid Guerra´s initiative, here are three views about globalization: Thomas Friedman´s concept and three stages and Oxford economist Ha-Jong Chang, author of provocative book on economic development Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective and Nobel Prize 1992 Economics laureate, Gary Becker.

Let´s start with Friedman´s in two pieces:

1. World is flat



2. Three eras of globalization



3. Why the world isn´t flat, according to Dr. Chang:

4. Globalization and inequality - Gary Becker, Nobel Prize Economics 1992



Now, what I want you to do is NOT to agree with any one of the three views, but to find how each approach can be applied to benefit our PII projects, regardless whether you agree more or less with one, other or none of the two perspectives.

Keep in mind writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald words on intelligence: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."

Post your comment indicating:

1. Which of Friedman´s concepts could you apply to your project and how?
2. Which of Chang´s concepts could you apply to your project and how?
3. Which of Becker´s concepts could you apply to your project and how?

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References

• Friedman, T. (2000) The Lexus and the olive tree: understanding globalization. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
• Friedman, T. (2008) The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
• Ha-Joon Chang (2002) Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective. Anthem Press
• Ha-Joon Change (2008) Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism , London, UK: Bloomsbury Press
• Alexander Hamilton´s biography. Wikipedia

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