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The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization
Author: Thomas L. Friedman

Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9780007360895
Pages: 564
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More than anything else, globalization is shaping world affairs today. We cannot interpret the day's news, or know where to invest our money, unless we understand this new system – the defining force in international relations and domestic policies worldwide. The unprecedented integration of finance, markets, nation states and technology is driving change across the globe at an ever-increasing speed. And while much of the world is intent on building a better Lexus, on streamlining their societies and economies for the global marketplace, many people feel their traditional identities threatened and are reverting to elemental struggles over who owns which olive tree, which strip of land.

The New York Times foreign affairs columnist has travelled the globe, interviewing everyone from Brazilian peasants to new entrepreneurs in Indonesia, to Islamic students, to the financial wizards on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, to find out what globalization means for them, and for all of us. This ground-breaking book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the world really works today.

Review
“Required reading...No one gives a better explanation of [globalization] than New York Times correspondent Thomas L. Friedman....Impressive.” ―The Christian Science Monitor

“Important…Friedman writes in straightforward language that should make globalization's complexities comprehensible. There's a great deal of wisdom in this book.” ―USA Today

“Friedman gets the economics right. His book is a wellspring of economic common sense that will inoculate its readers against the ‘globaloney' so prevalent in popular discussions of the subject.” ―Foreign Affairs

“Friedman convincingly argues that what creates wealth has suddenly changed.…The Lexus and the Olive Tree makes alarmingly good sense; it educates and provokes.” ―The Baltimore Sun

“A lively mix of anecdote and analysis…full of solid reporting…Friedman is eager, provocative, [and] often entertaining….Insightful.” ―The Boston Globe

“There is hardly a page in The Lexus and the Olive Tree without an underlineable passage….Friedman has used his remarkable vantage point to provide a readable overview that no academic or narrow-beat reporter could have given us….A genuinely important book.” ―Salon