HON351, American Ideals in Global Perspective
Fall Semester 2008
Study Guide
Technology and the Global Labor Market
Reading Assignment:
Friedman, "The World is Flat, After All" New York Times , April 3, 2005
Stephen Cohen and Bradford Delong, "Shaken and Stirred," Atlantic Monthly, Jan.-Feb 2005, pp. 112-17.
Daniel W. Drezner, "The Outsourcing Bogeyman," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 3, May/June 2004, pp. 22-34.
Other articles (optional):
"'Extreme' Jobs on the Rise," Christian Science Monitor, December 4, 2006
Questions to consider while reading the Friedman article:
1. What does Friedman mean when he suggests that the world is becoming "flat"?
2. How does Globalization 3.0 differ from earlier versions of globalization?
3. What were the technologies and other innovations that have contributed to a "flattening' of the world?
4. What challenges does a "flat" world pose for Americans?
Questions to consider while reading the Cohen and Delong article?
1. In what ways was the post-World War II era a golden age for American workers?
2. Why has the contemporary globalization posed a greater threat to the security of American workers than the internationalization of a century ago?
3. What type of workers are likely to fare well in a globalized economy? Which types will have the greatest difficulty adapting?
4. All is all, are Americans better off as a result of globalization? What tradeoffs have they had to make?
Questions to consider while reading the Drezner article:
1. What types of jobs are susceptible to outsourcing? What jobs are likely to stay in the United States?
2. Why does the author suggest that warnings about outsourcing exaggerate the number of jobs that are lost?
3. To what does the author attribute American job losses in the manufacturing sector?
4. What benefits do Americans derive from outsourcing of jobs?
5. Why does outsourcing of jobs provoke a strong political backlash?
6. Why does protecting inefficient industries in the United States sometimes lead to even more outsourcing of jobs?