The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Friedman focuses on the effects of free trade on the United States, both its benefits and its harms. Friedman concedes that free trade will cause some Americans to lose their jobs and that “[w]hen you lose your job, the unemployment rate is not 5.2 percent; it’s 100 percent” (264). Nevertheless, he believes free trade is better for America.

When free trade opens new markets, the “economic pie” is increased, expanding opportunities for everyone. New goods and services also continually arise as markets become more complex. There is no way to predict what new jobs this process will create. One example is search-engine optimization. Until Google made search engines big business, this kind of work did not exist. Now it is an important field.

Friedman gives a simple example involving America and China in which, hypothetically, both countries have 80 high-skilled workers, America has 20 low-skilled workers, and China has 920 low-skilled workers. If the two countries sign an agreement to open their markets, the high-skilled workers in America have it pretty good. While there is more competition, the total market went from 100 people to 1,100 people. The 20 low-skilled workers in America face a greater challenge than their 920 counterparts in China.