''The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy'' is a book written by David M. Smick, a financial market consultant, non-fiction author, and Chairman and CEO in the consultancy company of Johnson Smick International (JSI). This book opposes the views of

Thomas Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tr ...

's '' The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century''. Smick considers the potential negative ramifications of a constantly fluctuating global economy and analyzes possible solutions to these challenges.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

reviewer Greg Alexander wrote: "Smick brings expertise and lucidity to many difficult subjects, and while his book's appeal will likely be limited to those with some background in the field, it will undoubtedly stir interest and debate amongst investors, policymakers and strategists alike." In ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'',

Richard N. Cooper Richard Newell Cooper (June 14, 1934 – December 23, 2020) was an American economist, policy adviser, and academic. Born in Seattle, Cooper graduated from Oberlin College in 1956 and received a master's degree in economics from the London Sch ...

said that "This book is a rambling and anecdotal but enjoyable account by a participant-observer of the vital role the financial system has played in the huge growth in global prosperity over the past 25 years. Smick is unambiguous in holding private-sector players responsible for the emerging debacle." Book review website ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' opined: "A supremely useful book for portfolio planning, though not the thing to give someone who's inclined to worry about the state of the world." ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' contributor Bret Swanson expressed disappointment that Smick lays little responsibility at the feet of the inflationary weak-dollar policy of the Federal Reserve. but he said that Smick ably identifies most of the crucial protectionist policy curves that threaten global prosperity. ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' columnist David Ignatius said, "Economist David Smick had it right in The Post this week when he said the administration had a three-pronged strategy: delay, delay and delay." in 2009. Columnist Michael Gerson of the ''

'' mentioned that "‘It's not smart to say this economy can’t recover,’ says economist and author David Smick. If the pipeline of credit is somehow unclogged, the Federal Reserve has provided plenty of money for there to be a quick recovery. Americans will eventually need to buy houses or cars again." The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Joe Nocera mentioned the book, noting that "In indignant tones, he talked to me about the sophisticated off-balance-sheet vehicles the banks used to hide risk and game the system, and the ‘mortgage-backed securities they were shoving out the door.’ He concluded, ‘I find their behavior just appalling.’ But words like ‘off-balance-sheet vehicles’ and ‘mortgage-backed securities’ don't have much meaning for most of us. What we understand is greed—which, ultimately, is what Mr. Smick was talking about as well." Pete du Pont in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', posted that the book "shows that during the past quarter-century we have had a global ‘golden age of wealth creation and poverty reduction never before seen in the history of mankind.’ The global free market ‘experienced an unprecedented doubling of its labor force from 2.7 billion to 6 billion’; the U.S. had 40 million new jobs created; ‘the

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...

climbed from 800 to over 12,000’ (it is back under 9000 now); and, according to the Federal Reserve, U.S. households saw their net worth increase from $11 trillion in 1982 to more than $56 trillion today."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Is Curved, The 2009 non-fiction books Books about globalization Texts related to the history of the Internet Portfolio (publisher) books