Customer Reviews

Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the penultimate insiders view of the world economy as Altman ( a serious business journalist with a PhD.), lets you peek inside the worlds of a dozen decision maker/influencers/ordinary people in many countries, in the same24 hr period. Fascinating and much more insightful than The World is Flat. I can never read the world business news the same way again. It caused me to renew my online The Economist subscription. I appreciated the inside views on currency exchanges, credit and inflation. The story of Haier in China - delightful vignettes. I had forgotten how much Japan lacked competition until pointed out by Altman. The background on why the US will continue to force its dollar lower is worth the book price. The story about the plight of Chinese peasants really pulls at your gut. A must read, it is topical, thought provoking and appropriate for our market planning.

By now, we all know that "The World is Flat", and globalization (whatever that really means), is a fact, like it or not. But do we really understand global connections? In this interesting production of 14 magazine formatted articles - interjected with educational pieces on credit markets and currency, world stock markets, and oil's economic importance - economic writer, Daniel Altman asks the reader to do some thinking about how the global economics work. Altman asks 14 different questions with regard to global economics, and then does some educating on the subject using real time (15 June 2005) situations to argue both sides of the question.

If you are interested in, "Who really controls the world's money supply?" or, "Is immigration a luxury or a necessity?" then you will find this book of interest. Altman does not attempt to connect the dots for you, but the questions and the stories should give you `food for thought' about the development of our global economy. As the book is constructed using an article format, it is an easy read, even if the subjects are a bit on the `heavy' side. If you are a fan of The Economist magazine, this is a book for you.

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

The author is a journalist with a doctorate in economics from Harvard. He's written a nice book on the global economy. It's a fun read, and an easy read. Some will agree with him. While some won't. But at least the book gets one thinking.

Besides blurbs on credit markets & currency, stock markets, and oil, the book has 14 chapters as follows:

1. When does working together really work?
2. Can governments make global markets more competitive?
3. Do multinational companies bring progress or problems abroad?
4. What determines the global economic pecking order?
5. Who really controls the world's money supply?
6. What does corruption cost?
7. How important are financial markets to economic growth?
8. Is the financial system becoming more vulnerable to the actions of a few?
9. Which comes first, political or economic stability?
10. Can the United States set the global economy's rules?
11. Is immigration a luxury or a necessity?
12. Does it help the economy when ideas have owners?
13. Can a poor country get rich too quickly?
14. Do disruptive shocks help the economy in the long term?

I can't say I had a favorite chapter. And I agreed with some of the thoughts and disagreed with others. But I enjoyed reading the stories included. 4 stars!

A quick enjoyable read that rides the global economic rollercoaster. The book is more of collection of stories and light theory loosely tied together under the rubric of economic globalization. It is heavier than most media pieces but much much lighter than any work on economic theory.

I found it to be a great little book for people who always wondered about global economic theory and trends, but not enough to grind through the real heavy academic tomes on the subject. The book avoids the "politics" of globalization, but I am sure that those who are anti-globalization will fault the book for not being anti-globalization enough.

The author never claims to be writing "the" book on globalization, instead it is a snapshot of one day and it definitely shows how fast paced and never-ending today's global economy really is.

Economist Daniel Altman's book is a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the global economy. With tangible examples, opinions from the executives, worker bees, and the guys on the street, and detailed anecdotes ripped straight from the headlines of the dot com boom and beyond, Altman's essays make abstract concepts authentic. His gives context to big macroeconomic vocabulary terms and provides a framework in which the reader can develop his or her own opinion on hot button issues. Altman gives examples and raises enough probing questions that the reader will walk away with a profound appreciation for the lack of black/white good/bad thinking when it comes to globalization.

The story of the global economy is told via 14 snapshots (chapters) of action around the world on one day--June 15, 2005. The chapters range in topic from corporate mergers to anticompetitive practices to currency markets to U.S. dominance. Each chapter is a well-developed stand-alone essay. The weak point is the gimmicky nature of the book--using a time-stamped first-person journal entry from a global market "player" in each chapter to expound upon the topic at hand. The first-person entries add nothing to Altman's already well-crafted text, and by chapter 14, they are a tedious distraction from an otherwise excellent book.

Altman's book is a quick read full of necessary history, politics, and economics for every citizen of the modern world.

Whatever one's views of globalization: whether one is a free-market fundamentalist or an anti-globalization protester, one thing is certain, global trade is here to stay. Globalization is not something that is controlled by governments or large corporations - though they are influential - rather it is driven by technology. Technology allows investors, consumers, workers, managers, etc. to connect and interact with their counterparts all over the globe. As Daniel Altman explains in his new book, this interconnectedness is growing more complex by the day.

To show how this web of interconnectedness is being woven, Altman chooses a random day, June 15 2005, and gives 14 snapshots from around the world. He updates the old cog-in-the-machine metaphor of the laborer with a new globally connected and empowered knowledge worker. Here he follows the footsteps of Thomas Friedman in The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. On this given day we see how the entire world is on a quest for better connections to buy products and to get information from around the world.

Each chapter begins with a news story or an email about a specific event. He then shows how this particular story relates to the larger global economy. This is the economist zooming in and out from the micro to the macro. This method reminds me of current events day in grade school when we brought newspaper clippings to school for discussion and possibly some insights into the larger picture.

One of the more interesting chapters was Altman's story about Intel's business in Vietman. In this case a Communist government worked to Intel's advantage since they have monopoly of business within the country. Intel's and the government's goals were basically the same: they both wanted computers in the hands of as many people as possible. The larger issues that Alman discusses are the pros and cons of a MNC investment in a country such as Vietman, the role the government should play, and to the extent to which they should let Intel run the business.

Altman goes on to discuss how Beijing takes advantage of foreign MNC's. Beijing allows foreign companies to buy shares in state companies so that those companies can learn international accounting practices before they are listed on foreign exchanges. By outsourcing their business laws and practices, Beijing is actually sidestepping some very sensitve and difficult issues by letting outsiders write the rules. This is a very clever on their part maneuver since no one has to take responsiblity in case there are some failures.

This book does not have the answers to the big questions, it is only a day-in-the life of the global economy. It does do a good job of showing the globalness of the big issues. It also illustrates why it is important for everyone to get well-connected if they are looking for new opportunities or if they simply want to remain relevant.

This is a pretty dry "audio" (I "read" the unabridged audiobook) presentation of 24 hours in the global economy. The material itself is technically solid, interesting to the economically minded, and has more than enough detail and explanation to allow the reader to see the interaction among all of the various elements of the global economy, as well as get an appreciation for the size and complexity of what happens on one given day (June 15). The downside is that the material isn't particularly engaging. Probably a read (or listen) appropriate to the econophile or business junkie who wants to appreciate the complexities of the global economy. However, if this isn't your bag of beans, the approach here won't really turn you on to the subject.

Very interesting Short yet connect essays. It just leaves you with enough information to understand interconnected economic behaviour. The book doesn't go deep but this makes it a good in-light one trip read.

Mr. Altman makes the intricate world of economics and finance comprehensible, interesting and even passionate. The overall conceptual organization of the book, its intelligent approach, clear and precise narrative, are some of its mayor assets. I have not read Mr. Altman's previous books, but after reading "Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy" I'm very much interested. Without any doubt, I will read the next one he publishes.

I started this book with eager anticipation based on other reviews, unfortunately the book failed to live up to my expectations. The topics presented in the chapters are pertinent, however the way the author goes about explaining and providing examples and anecdotes is where the book falls short.

First, the short first person accounts by various professionals are distracting; I found they added little to the overall understanding of the topic. Example: the chapter on the importance of finical markets to economic growth highlights the case of Syria and the challenges it faces. The first person account in this chapter is from a TURKISH professional flying to MILAN on a business trip.... Please tell me how this in any way adds to the understanding of financial market importance, let alone Syria..

The same random story lines keep appearing in subsequent chapters. In a chapter called "Can the US set the Rules?" the author interjects with story of a baseball player who is obsessed with the number 9, and thus will only accept salaries that contain the number 9. I have no idea why this belongs in this chapter, let alone this book

The book is hopelessly random and has very little direction. Each chapter sets out to explain a concept/challenge facing the global economy, but invariably always comes up short.