My New Favorite Book

My new favorite book (for right now) is the Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman. It rocks. Friedman has been a writer for the New York Times for forever and has stories from traveling around the globe that are ridiculous. I love it. It's a lot like The Tipping Point (my ultimate #1 Favorite Book ever and the inspiration for my major - see below) and Freakonomics (also really good, but not as mind-blowing for me personally).

Friedman explains globalization and why it has had such a huge impact on the world and what the impact is. It's fascinating. Not only has capitalism and globalization affected the world economically, but I think it has forever changed us socially and the way we even think about things (I think you can back this idea up with stuff in Amusing Ourselves to Death, I'm working on it).

So anyways, here's one of his stories from the book (he has a million of these and he uses them to illustrate each point about changes in a nation's economy - it's brilliant):

"The difference between full-fledged kleptocracy (a nation that operates on bribes and corruption) and budding kleptocracy is best illustrated by the old joke they like to tell around the World Bank (he hangs out with those guys!) about the Asian and African Ministers of Infrastructure who exchange visits to one anther's countries. First the African visits the Asian minister in his country, and at the end of the day the Asian takes the African to his home for dinner. The Asian minster lives in an absolutely palatial residence. So the African minster asks his Asian counterpart, "Wow, how can you afford such a home on your salary?" The Asian minster takes the African over to a big bay window and points to a new bridge in the distance. "You see that bridge over there?" the Asian minster asks the African. "Yes, I see it," the African says. Then the Asian minster points a finger at himself and whispers: "Ten percent," signaling 10 percent of the cost of the bridge went into his pocket. Well, a year later the Asian went to visit the African minster in his country, and found that he lived in an even more palatial home than his Asian counterpart. "Wow, how can you afford such a home on your salary?" the Asian asked the African. The African pulled his Asian counterpart over to the big bay window in his living room and pointed out to the horizon. "Do you see that bridge over there?" the African asked the Asian. "No, there is not bridge there," answered the Asian. "That's right," the African minister said, pointing to himself: "One hundred percent."