The Lexus And The Olive Tree
...It was born when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Cold War system was replaced by a new, very greased, interconnected system called globalization." He is right, as evidenced first by the growth of portable computers and other electronic products, we have six portable and notebook computers in a house of four people, each connected through a wireless high-speed network to the other and the world not to mention cell phones (we all have one or more), beepers, fax machines (even my grand parents have one) and PDA's. In addition we have seen the fall of communism (or the liberalization as in China) in all parts of the world except Cuba and North Korea. This new world, where as Lawrence Grossman former president of NBC notes, we have all become broadcasters, has a new set of rules for individuals and nations. In this paper I will detail the rules of globalization as noted by Freidman as well as the challenges that Ecuador has faced as a global economy, the polices that Ecuador has pursued in facing these challenges, and lastly my interpretation of Freidman's reaction to these policies.
Freidman defines globalization as "the overarching international system shaping the domestic relations of virtually every country
[it] involves the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before
enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before
." This contrasts to the Cold War system, dominated by two super powers, its black and white politics with the clash between capitalism and communism, real and imaginary trade barriers and every country was in one of three camps, the communist camp, the Western camp and the neutral camp, the ability of third world countries to play Russia against the United States or vice versa to support deficit...
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