Friedman

In 2005, the New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman gave a talk at MIT that consisted of an impressive and polished synopsis of his book The World Is Flat. While this book is certainly not new, and he has certainly spoken about it in the media (e.g., on Charlie Rose), this talk is a particularly striking presentation of the thesis.

Here is a characterization of the book from the MIT site:

"In his latest book, The World is Flat, Friedman describes the unplanned cascade of technological and social shifts that effectively leveled the economic world, and 'accidentally made Beijing, Bangalore and Bethesda next-door neighbors.' Today, 'individuals and small groups of every color of the rainbow will be able to plug and play.' Friedman’s list of 'flatteners' includes the fall of the Berlin Wall; the rise of Netscape and the dotcom boom that led to a trillion dollar investment in fiber optic cable..."

This link will automatically open iTunes and take you to a free video podcast of that talk. This is a link to the MIT page. (I discovered this podcast through OpenCulture.)