Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed |  | Author: Gregg Easterbrook
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
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Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 105839
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 243
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400063957
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.9
EAN: 9781400063956
ASIN: 1400063957
Publication Date: December 29, 2009
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Product Description
There are signs the recession is about to end. So what comes next? Growth will resume. But economic uncertainty will worsen, making what comes next not just a boom but a nerve-shattering SONIC BOOM.
Gregg Easterbrook – who "writes nothing that is not brilliant" (Chicago Tribune) – is a fount of unconventional wisdom, and over time, he is almost always proven right. Throughout 2008 and 2009, as the global economy was contracting and the experts were panicking, Easterbrook worked on a book saying prosperity is about to make its next big leap. Will he be right again?
SONIC BOOM: Globalization at Mach Speed presents three basic insights. First, if you don't like globalization, brace yourself, because globalization has barely started. Easterbrook contends the world is about to become far more globally linked. Second, the next wave of global change will be primarily positive: economic prosperity, knowledge and freedom will increase more in the next 50 years than in all of human history to this point. But before you celebrate, Easterbrook further warns that the next phase of global change is going to drive us crazy. Most things will be good for most people – but nothing will seem certain for anyone.
Each SONIC BOOM chapter is based on examples of cities around the world – in the United States, Europe, Russia, China, South America – that represent a significant Sonic Boom trend. With a terrific sense of humor, pitch-perfect reporting and clear, elegant prose, Easterbrook explains why economic recovery is on the horizon but why the next phase of global change will also give everyone one hell of a headache. Forbes calls Easterbrook "the best writer on complex topics in the United States" and SONIC BOOM will show you why.
Amazon.com Review
Gregg Easterbrook on Sonic Boom
Probably the international recession is ending--so what comes next? A Sonic Boom is what comes next. Dramatic global economy growth is likely to resume, especially in the developing world, where growth is needed most. Prosperity should start back upward. Goods and service will continue getting better and cheaper. Thatâs the boom part. But job anxiety and economic insecurity will accelerate, too. Even as the global economy recovers, we may not feel especially good, because economic change will keep coming faster. Thatâs the sonic part. A sonic boom is powerful, but also nerve-shattering. History teaches that when some crisis interrupts larger trends, as soon as the crisis concludes, the larger trends resume. Before the international economic crisis that began in late 2007, the larger trends were robust global growth and rising economic insecurity. Look for both trends to resume in a Sonic Boom world. Many aspects of a Sonic Boom world will be wonderful. Faster, cheaper communication; easy global access to information and knowledge; rapid innovation, including for green energy; increasing freedom, especially womenâs freedom; greater awareness of other cultures. Womenâs freedom will itself double the worldâs supply of ideas! And the more we know about each other, the less nations and cultures will fear each other, meaning militarism should decline. But the same forces bringing about better products at lower prices, and improved communication and cultural exchange, will make jobs less secure. Itâs not just autoworkers in Indiana--soon everyone everywhere will feel insecure about his or her source of income, even if the economy is basically fine. And does globalization drive you crazy? Then brace yourself: globalization has barely gotten started. A decade from now, the world will be far more globally integrated. Thatâs good (ease of communication, improved understanding of other cultures) and bad (businesses will come into and go out of existences even faster). Here are some important considerations for the Sonic Boom: - Network effects are just getting started. You may already be sick of the Internet--but itâs still in infancy. We will soon be more globally linked than today.
- Universal high school must be replaced by universal college. A century ago, school was mandatory until age 16; adjust for rising life expectancy, and school should now be mandatory until age 23. In a technological world, college is far more valuable to a nation than petroleum; the United States needs a sweeping commitment to everyone attending some college.
- The Microsoft Word Test. I typed a misspelling of "Ljubljana" on my laptop, and Word provided the correct spelling. You know where Ljubljana is, donât you? Youâd better--it is becoming an economic player. In the Sonic Boom era, any nation or city whose correct spelling is recognized by Microsoft Word is a place that may cause economic commotion by, oh, tomorrow morning.
- The Super Bowl of Stress. Itâs approaching. Stability is the underdog!
A chaotic, raucous, unpredictable, stress-inducing, free, prosperous, well-informed and very smart future is coming. Sonic Boom provides a guide to what to expect--and how to cope.--Gregg Easterbrook
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 43
 An updated version of Fukuyama's, The End of History February 21, 2010
Richard Gibson (Woodland Hills, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Sonic Boom, Atlantic magazine contributing editor Gregg Easterbrook gives us a mildly disquieting but basically wildly optimistic view of the future. His view of the world is similar to that of Thomas Friedman in The World Is Flat, but much, much more so. As Easterbrook sees it, we are now in the beginning stages of globalization, and the changes we have seen thus far are all going to accelerate. He argues that the world now is characterized by extreme interconnectedness, global economic competition and ceaseless innovation. Easterbrook sees a future in which everyone is connected to everyone, every nation is able to compete with every nation economically, and, as a result, innovation will be unending. The primary downside of the world that he sees is that unpredictable change will be incessant, and that anxiety about the future is likely to be constant. In this brave new world, very few people will have dependable jobs; nearly everyone's job will be subject to being destroyed, and replaced, by some form of innovation or another. This downside, however, is small, because Easterbrook also sees wealth as continually growing and the cost of nearly everything as continually falling. Easterbrook sees little war in the future; he thinks that the world has largely transitioned to one of economic competition and interdependence, in which military conflicts will be rare.
Put somewhat differently, Easterbrook's book is an updated and more factually grounded version of Francis Fukuyama's book, The End of History and the Last Man. In both Easterbrook's and Fukuyama's view of the world, free trade, free enterprise and liberal democracy own the future. They both see all forms of tyranny as fading into the past. Easterbrook lacks Fukuyama's Hegelian philosophy, but they both basically argue that America won the Cold War, and our system is now taking over the world. (Easterbrook does NOT put it this way. He makes few references to the Cold War, or to the time when this outcome was in doubt.)
Easterbrook makes a compelling case for his viewpoint. He writes well, and he has amassed a huge number of pertinent facts. I must say, however, there is a nagging voice in the back of my head that questions all of this. Yes, I see what he is saying and, frankly, I hope he is right. But his worldview ignores the enemies of innovation and globalization. In the domestic economy, he sees free market competition as leading to unending innovation. How about the public schools? How about Medicare and Medicaid? There are still huge sectors of our economy in which there is no competition, there is virtually no innovation and costs are totally out of control.
And the world is not 100% run by free market devotees. Easterbrook totally ignores radical Islam. He never mentions Al Queda, the Taliban or the regime in Iran. These folks oppose globalization and free trade. I do not see them going out of business any time soon. And one could add to the list Hugo Chavez and Cuba.
And then there is the whole question about China. Is China really headed for freedom? We all hope so, but are our hopes realistic? China is still run by the Communist Party, which is a dictatorship. The Communists were bright enough, and flexible enough, to see that free market reforms would bolster their power, by increasing national wealth. They have not, however, shown any signs of releasing their total hold on power and their total suppression of democracy. Will the free market in China dissolve the dictatorship and lead inevitably to democracy? We all hope so, but do any of us really know?
Fascinating Study of What the Future May Hold February 13, 2010
Charlene Rubush (Donalsonville, Georgia)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Author Greg Easterbrook presents intriguing visions of what we may expect in the coming years. He doesn't hold back from asserting both the good news and the bad.
Some examples of the good news are:
1) Democracy is spreading.
2) Most economies in the world are now free.
3) Superpowers are competing economically, rather than fighting militarily.
4) Increased opportunities for women are doubling the world's supply of ideas.
Here's some examples of the bad news:
1) Internationally linked computerized economies mean twenty-four hour stress.
2) Frequent shakeups in industries will cause more job insecurity.
3) Climate change is about to accelerate global disruption.
Easterbrook refers to the coming business climate as "The Sonic Boom Economy" because he predicts it will be an explosive time of unprecedented growth, progress, and change, that will leave all of us, at one time or another, "anxious, uneasy, and stressed out of our minds."
The author gives us an idea of globalization, with examples of places like Shenzhen, China, which has become the fourth largest port in the world in a single generation, creating both income and upheaval.
He explains how Waltham, Massachusetts, is booming as New England's answer to Silicon Valley, yet it's no longer hospitable to workers in its fading mercantile industries.
Yatsuk, Russia, which is now the coldest major city in the world, may benefit from global warming. On the other hand, Houston may become too stifling to inhabit. Florida may become a swampland.
Easterbrook enlightens us about much of the great innovation that is going on. An old-fashioned factory in Erie, Pennsylvania uses new methods to build high-efficiency, low-polluting railroad locomotives. General Electric has gone from selling lightbulbs to jets to green tech.
He writes of the French health-care model system, which makes treatment faster and cheaper, by paying doctors for phone and email consultations. It is a system that the United States could learn from.
The author provides a framework which helps us understand what's coming, and how we can best deal with it. While we are in for massive changes, he also notes that much of what we like about life will get better. Propserity will increase, especially in the less-affluent nations where it's needed most. Democracy will flourish as never before, plus information and knowledge will be more readily available to more and more people.
Yet, we'll all have to learn to live with both the terrific changes ahead, intertwined with the anxiety-inducing aspects. Easterbrook offers his message in an engaging manner. It's a very worthwhile read. Highly recommended!
Globalization 101 May 2, 2010
Orville B. Jenkins (Arlington, Texas)
The is a fact-filled book that reads not like a compendium of information, but like an expose of the realties of current life. Easterbrook provides a practical portrait of the process of Globalization.
I still hear some complaints or rants against globalization. But this book makes clear Globalization is not an option. It is not a trend we can or should stem. It has already happened. The statement of denial that still tries simplistically to pit the US against the world ignores the realities that have been developing for a century.
Laying It Out
The author explains how the phenomenon developed and lays out key components to enable the reader to understand what has happened, what is now going on and what to expect. You will learn a lot of details about our current world and the problem facing us and our technology. Or the problems presented to us by our technology.
This is a thorough and thoroughly readable explication of a complex topic. I appreciated that Easterbrook does not try to over-simplify Globalization. He just easily deals with a multiple dimensions of the phenomenon in an competent and understandable manner. Forbes magazine has described Gregg Easterbrook as "the best writer on complex topics in the United States." You will likely agree after you finish this intriguing volume
Easterbrook's smooth and clear writing style lays out the portrait of the current economic-political mesh of international networks that are deeply established. There is no going back. The brush strokes are wide and fast here, and the book moves quickly, at Mach Speed like the title's characterization of the process of Globalization.
China Changes
Easterbrook starts with an analysis of the huge changes that have occurred in China over the last generation. He looks at the trends of capitalization, opening up of the economy and the heavy industrialization, and the implications that has for the rest of China's world partners in the closely-knit global network.
He looks at the move of factories and plants form other countries to China, and related shifts in the segments of manufacture and distribution across the world. He finds that Caterpillar and John Deere have had recent record years selling heavy equipment to China, Indonesia and India.
World Sectors
Related to the world shift, the author described the closing of car factories in the northern US states like Pennsylvania and Illinois, and the opening up of new factories in Texas and Kentucky. The shifting configuration of manufacture and distribution that we see in the US is an expression of the same trend worldwide.
While some with blinkered vision complain about "jobs being exported" (an odd concept to me), in actuality, China now has a deep vested interest in keeping America's economy strong. This positive aspect of Globalization balances the negative local effects sometimes prominent when economic shifts occur.
Here are some other gems of insight and analysis Easterbrook provides:
- Since WWII US farm yield has grown faster than population growth
- Steelmaking polluted the Great Lakes, leading to a ban on the commercial fishing industry that had thrived in the Lakes
- Protectionist legislation accelerated the decline it was meant to stop
- Unions were one reason American industrial production lost ground
- China buys 40% of GE's locomotives
- In 2008, Virginia's government refused permission for a coal gasification plant that would have reduced greenhouse gases by 90% over conventional electricity production
- 1/3 of electricity is los tin transmission
- Incandescent light bulbs are only 5% efficient! They waste 95% of the power they draw
- Corn-based ethanol is a net energy loser
- Today's ethanol has about 2/3 the energy value of petroleum fuel
- The Federal Government is primarily an impediment to alternative energy research
- India's service sector accounts for 53% of the country's GDP; China 41%; US 78%; Denmark 72%; Germany 70%; Brazil/Portugal 66%; Czech Republic 60%
- Health care costs have risen ahead of wages by about 2% per year for a decades. Co-pay has risen 78% since 2001
- The US has the smartest and best-educated armed forces in the world
- Practical economics is missing from American schools; similarly for cultural studies, at a time when the whole world is living in our communities!
prospect of a world more prosperous, more free and less militaristic, yet even more nervous May 3, 2010
Brian Kodi
This book is laced with statistics, and the pace is breathtaking. Kinda reminded me of the 1996 movie "The Rock", with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Mr. Easterbrook has strong and refreshing opinions on anything and everything, but what he is most certain of is the dizzying pace of globalization which will lead to a decline in stability and security as global competition magnifies. New ideas will be commoditized quicker than ever, "prosperity will rise and prices will fall as the world gets ever more efficient at making products people want at prices they can afford, while large numbers of new jobs are created. But existing firms will become more likely to fail and existing jobs more likely to disappear, owing to the same forces causing general prosperity." (p. 128) "International business competition is relentless and can knock out any seemingly secure corporation." (p. 41)
The world in the near future will experience increasing shockwaves (sonic booms), but will rebound quickly. State and federal governments must mitigate the inevitable insecurity with further social safety nets such as universal healthcare, and emphasize higher education for a more mobile workforce. Our education, Mr. Easterbrook asserts, is in need of an overhaul that should include less emphasis on math and more on practical courses such as economics that is not taught in high schools. Substitute chemistry with technology, and history with more contemporary cultural studies. "In the Sonic Boom world, students will grow up to have nearly constant contact with other cultures, yet most public school systems aren't preparing them for this." (p. 187)
Paradoxically, what the future may hold is that while prosperity will increase, happiness may decline. Mr. Easterbrook cites numerous studies that show higher standard of living and material life do not increase happiness. So while we can afford more products and services, we may suffer a decline in our feeling of well being because we will be faced with a new "reality in which sudden job loss could happen to anyone - and more than once per lifetime." (p. 199) Mr. Easterbrook uses the term "Non-specific mild unease about life in general" (p. 200) to describe this peculiar feeling.
While Mr. Easterbrook's tone is generally positive, I would describe globalization at mach speed as more a "bittersweet effect". Regardless of how you view these changes, learn to embrace it, because there is no stopping it. And there should be no stopping you from picking up a copy of this book. It's visionary, provocative and sure to change your view of some of the most vexing topics.
Highly Recommended July 22, 2010
Dr. Yuval Lirov (New Jersey, USA)
What are the mega-trends affecting our lives in the most profound ways? How can we identify them in spite of a continuous barrage of information from an increasing number of sources? How is globalization changing our lives? What can we expect in the next 10 to 25 years in terms of job security, income dynamics, and population growth?
These are the key questions that Gregg Easterbrook addresses in his Sonic Boom - a delightfully written and highly educational book.
Highly recommended.
Yuval Lirov, Medical Billing Networks and Processes - Profitable and Compliant Revenue Cycle Management in the Internet Age
Showing reviews 1-5 of 43
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