Preview

Summary Of Hot Flat And Crowd

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2490 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Hot Flat And Crowd
The Book Hot Flat and Crowded written by Thomas Friedman is a book that shows many problems both with the United States and the world today. Each of these problems has the potential to forever change the world. In fact, some of them have already made significant changes. Hot describes the climate change or global warming that the world is experiencing. Flat explains the globalization of marketplaces that is occurring. Crowded depicts the rapid population growth that is occurring which is causing a growing competition for resources. Friedman claims that these three facets are converging in a way that is making our planet dangerously unstable. The book is broken into five separate sections which all have a few subsections. The first major section is “Where We Are.” This first subsection in this section is “Where Birds Don’t Fly.” Friedman claims that America has gotten distracted from the war on terror, and consequentially, America has been losing its reputation as a world power. Friedman outlines this belief in the following quote from page …show more content…
The first is found in chapter ten. I believe that Friedman’s plan could result in negative effects. There is a fundamental reason for why government regulates energy prices. This is because utility/energy companies are almost always a monopoly. It is pertinent that these prices are regulated because monopolies control the entire market share which means that they could set the price as high as they wanted in order to generate large profits. In addition, de-monopolizing these companies would result in wasted resources since companies would place more telephone polls next to each other because they would be competing for customers in the same area. The second thing with which I disagree is that a carbon tax could prove to be beneficial. A carbon tax during this recovery from the worst recession in decades could greatly drive down economic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To prevent gasoline prices from having devastating effects on the economy it has been proposed that all gasoline prices in the United States be fixed at the average price for the last two years. For simplicity it will be assumed that this price is $2.50 per gallon. When equilibrium prices are under $2.50 per gallon the excess payments will be kept in a government fund. When retail prices exceed $2.50 per gallon money from this fund will be distributed to pay the difference. Do you think that this plan would help the economy? What affect would the plan have on the supply and demand curves? Would gas stations and oil companies are able to stay in business? Respond to at least two of your fellow students…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For hundreds of years, people have grow with a concept of the more is better. The growth of nation economy makes more money and therefore a better quality of life. But now, things have changed. He descripted our new eaarth as “a played-out rock and a hot place”. We are drilling and extracting fossil fuels, burning them into CO2 that causes greenhouse effect.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This is a presentation about Tom Friedman’s book, called The World is Flat. Tom Friedman is a New York Times reporter and columnist who has won three Pulitzer Prizes and has had four or five bestselling books out. He gets some criticism for this book because some people think he’s a cheerleader for Globalization, and those people who are against Globalization don’t particularly like that. I think, in all fairness to Tom, although he’s very enthusiastic about his book and his subject, I think he just recognizes that, like it or not, Globalization is here, and here to stay. So maybe we need to understand it and figure out what we need to do about it, whether we think it’s good, or bad.…

    • 3319 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Hot House Book Review

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Hot House Life inside Leavenworth prison was writing in 1987-1989 by Peter Earley. Leavenworth has been one of the oldest and most dangerous maximum security facilities in the nation. The author introduces us with 6 prisoners and a couple of wardens. The book captures all the problems prisoners came across and experiences they had to go through.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nearly every news day we hear about the carbon tax. Many support it and many oppose it. Julia Gillard says it will cut emission whilst others just think it will drive up prices. The analysis undertaken by simulating the impact of a carbon tax of $23 a tonne reveals some interesting outcomes. For example, in the short run, Australia’s real GDP may decline by 0.68 percent, consumer prices may rise by 0.75 percent, and the price of electricity may increase by about 26 percent as a result of the tax. Nevertheless it allows Australia to make a substantial cut in its CO2 emissions. The simulation results imply an emission reduction of about 12 percent in its first year of operation. The tax burden is unequally distributed among different household groups with low-income households carrying a relatively higher burden. Many think that the carbon tax will impact the large polluting industries such as mining and electricity with respect to reducing the pollution they produce but others think they will continue on with normal procedures and just pass on the tax onto consumers. Today I will be trying to prove or disprove the statement of:…

    • 2211 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Friedman also looks at 9/11 as a missed opportunity by the United States to begin reforming and growing, but instead closed its borders and spent more money on defense and had to cut from the education budget. Friedman continues by stating that the United States need to shift its mindset from a situational to sustainability model. This means that instead of focusing on growing as big and as fast as possible on both an environmental and economic level, the focus needs to be on being accountable and acting as if it is your responsibility, and not that of your children or grandchildren to have answers and solutions. Friedman spends a majority of the book explaining how important it is that the U.S. jumps out in front and is the champion of ‘going green’, that in order to…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Once again, warfare would define human life” (qtd. in Parenti 15). The biggest crisis in human life is when everyone is fighting desperately over food, water, and energy sources. Global warming is now not only affecting the animals, nature, climate. Eventually the issue has come approach to the humans, because of the global warning. In the book, “Topics of Chaos” [x] [x] [x] by Christian Parenti is about making predictions to the dangerous human life in the future and different plans that the governments and militaries will use to prevent the crisis. Dr. Thomas Fingar claims the lack of food aid will be causing violence around the world and climate changes will motivate immigrants to move. Fingar states, “Food insecurity, for reasons both…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hot, Flat, & Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman was published by FSC Mixed Sources in the year 2008. This book is a diagnosis of Friedman’s three major challenges facing the world and the United States. Also he includes perceptions for how the United States can cure these problems. Friedman especially specializes on focusing on the greatest challenge of which is global warming. He then also argues that the United States can solve its own problems and help the entire planet, by becoming a world leader in green technology. Global warming, global flattening, and global crowding are the three main elements leading up to the five big problems which are energy supply and demand, petrodictatorship, climate change, energy poverty, and biodiversity loss.…

    • 3828 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Friedman, T. L. (2008). Hot, Flat, and Crowded Why we need a green revolution- and how it can renew America. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.…

    • 4470 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his article, The Earth Is Full, Friedman (2011) begins by stating that in recent years, first decade of 21st century, humanity encounters dangers that threaten humanity and the nature because of their unconcerned behaviors. Economic problems, high growing population rate and natural disasters compel humans to question about those recent years. The writer then moves on to the veteran Australian environmentalist-entrepreneur Paul Gilding and his book, Gilding, P. (2011) The Great Disruption: Why the climate crisis will bring on the end of shopping and the birth of a new world. New York: Bloomsbury Press. Gilding (2011) discusses how much land and water area humanity needs to produce the resources they consume and absorb their waste. According to Gilding (2011), earth is growing at a dangerous rate and points out that over-used resources and worsening ecologic environment damage to social and economic system. Friedman reports the current growth rate is 150 percent of earth’s sustainable capacity and states that excessive use of resources and too much waste that creates the problem, “The Earth Is Full.” He mentions about two loops; first, population growth and global warming push up food prices, which leads to political instability, which leads to higher oil prices, which leads to higher food prices, and so on in a insurmountable circle. Second, higher productivity means fewer jobs, which requires humans to produce more sources to create jobs. The more sources create global warming. Afterwards, the writer turns his attention to possible solutions. The solutions are discussed by giving Gilding’s eco-optimist view. In the article, also it is stated that economic systems are not changed without a crisis. Friedman (2011) states that “But don’t worry, we’re getting there.” Finally, Friedman prefers to use quotations from Gilding who say nations are heading for a crisis-driven choice and develop a new sustainable economic model slowly.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The central theme of this document is how the federal government can use taxpayers money to control the climate. Climate control is an issue in the united states right now. More than 5 cities in California suffer from air pollution that can affect it’s citizens. This was and still is a huge issue that can change hopefully.Yeah some Americans hate taxes but everyone hates pollution.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Barack Obama Essay Example

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages

    One of the reasons Barack Obama is seen as such a viable candidate for the upcoming presidential election is his detailed blueprint for the environment. This blueprint includes specifics about; carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and climate change. Obama “wants a cap-and-trade system to cut CO2 emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.”(Adler 44). “Obama's cap-and-trade system will require all pollution credits to be auctioned. A 100 percent auction ensures that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions they release, rather than giving these emission rights away to coal and oil companies. Some of the revenue generated by auctioning allowances will be used to support the development of clean energy, to invest in energy efficiency improvements, and to address transition costs...”(Kaufman 6). Another well described section in Obama’s plans for the environment is improving energy efficiency. “Obama will create a competitive grant program to award those states and localities that take the first steps to implement new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency… He'll also establish a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent.” (Kaufman 6). Addressing climate issues is also a major factor in Obama’s campaign. “Obama will create a Global Energy Forum — that includes all G-8 members plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa –the largest energy consuming nations from both the…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Economics - Externalities

    • 2379 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Based on the world’s behavior related to the demand of energy (which is an essential good), and also founded on the article, we can affirm that the consumers of fossil fuel are unresponsive to price changes of it because of multiple financial and commercial reasons. This signifies that the elasticity of this good is inelastic as it is stated on the text: “But the highly inelastic demand assures that fossil fuel energy prices will rise, leading to greater interest from consumers in alternative energies”, we can highlight another important fraction of the text that reinforces this affirmation: “Notice that the tax does not lead to a significant decrease in the quantity of fossil fuel energy consumed in the short run”. In addition to this, if we apply this scenario into a real life situation and also taking into account the number of substitutes, we would direct ourselves to the US, in which: “A carbon tax, which increases the cost and decreases the supply of fossil fuel energy, will not significantly reduce the amount of fossil fuel energy consumed in the United States; at least not in the short run, during which there will be very few substitutes for fossil fuel energy available to consumers”. However, at the beginning of the reading, it is stated that the elasticity is elastic: “CO2 tax would, in fact, lead to significant decreases in the amount of energy demanded by the nation’s households and firms. In other words, it assumes a relatively elastic demand for electricity”. This is not a contradiction, in fact, it is the contrast of the long – run and short – run effects of the tax on this good.…

    • 2379 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The World is Flat

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    2. 2.0 early 1800-2000 corporations globalizing, going global through companies, world going from medium to small…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jetblue

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Friedman, T. L. (2007). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.…

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays