The thing that GM sheds may be the most attractive piece in a few years.

I have often said the “The Dilbert Principle” is the greatest management textbook of all time. Totally applicable to the implosion of GM, IMHO.

I loved it so much that I ran out and bought the next one, I think it was “The Dilbert Future”. I found Scott Adams’ vision to be so dark that I put it down after the first couple of chapters, and never picked it up again. It is still staring at me from the bookshelf.

Maybe I’ll get it down and try again if and when I finish ‘TWIF”, LOL.

Thanks for the inspiration.

I started “The World Is Flat” when it was a current best seller, but could not get past the first couple of chapters about the call centers, etc. I then read “Hot, Flat and Crowded”, which I found easier going. That, and the fact that I ran out of Bernard Cornwell “Sharpe” novels, led me back to try “TWIF” again. As to “HF&C”, I do agree with your comments. Mr. Friedman is a reporter, not a scientist or engineer, so I’m not too shocked that he didn’t lay out the definitive solutions.

On the other hand, the book was very professionally written and readable. So I think that a lot of its value lies in laying out the history and the problems, which I would hope will lead his large audience into getting more engaged and joining in the search for the elusive solutions.

As to “The World is Flat”, I am still wading through it. As you may recall, the quote from Marx, which, as you can see, just flabbergasted me, is only about halfway through. But, based on the above, I will not be too shocked if the result is the same. I mean, he’s not a trained economist either, although maybe that’s to his credit!

I think that your idea about trying to make constructive solutions for the future is an excellent one. As a reporter and best selling authour with obviously awesome contacts around the world, one would think that he could get access to the best scientific and economic experts out there and do a couple of more books on the solutions. Why don’t we both send him an e-mail and suggest same? I’ll bet there’s some sort of e-mail address in the books somewhere.

All i can say is that I have a now 6 year old grandson, and I look at him and wonder what is going to become of him. If medical technology marches on, his generation may very well live to be 100. How are they going to maintain decent lifestyles in the face of this global “flattening”? As you say, we had all better get busy and start trying to figure out some solutions.

Hawk