# So you want to understand Globalization?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 6, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673 "2004-08-06T20:31:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/1 "2004-08-06T20:31:14Z")
[Then go here.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/)
The entire series is hosted on-line.
I have never seen a better documentary on economics ever done. It is not so much a history of globalization, but of the century itself. That PBS made it is stunning. It is one of the finest and most interesting documentaries I have ever seen. Everyone should watch this.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/2 "2004-08-07T09:55:22Z")
I agree. I’ve been intending to buy this series. Thanks for the link.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/3 "2004-08-07T14:07:21Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society.
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/4 "2004-08-07T18:19:27Z")
So far, I’m through Chapter 4. Great find, Muad’Dib!
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/5 "2004-08-08T01:53:14Z")
Daniel Yergin is one of my favorite writers of economics and industry, with his [The Prize](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671799320/qid=1091929925/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-3830320-0295348?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) being one of the finest books on the history of the oil industry ever written.
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### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/6 "2004-08-08T16:40:48Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> So far, I’m through Chapter 4. Great find, Muad’Dib!
Oh good. It was you that I primarily wanted to see this.
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### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/7 "2004-08-11T06:03:21Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> So far, I’m through Chapter 4. Great find, Muad’Dib!
Have you finished it yet? What did you think?
I caught it by accident one night when flipping through the channels and I heard the name “Hayek”, so of course I stopped. I was actually made giddy from watching it. That documentary was a wonderful, level-headed, intelligent antidote to the sort of dreck that you see being put out by various left-wing types nowadays. It was like a breath of fresh air.
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/8 "2004-08-11T06:25:15Z")
It’s pretty long! I’m on the second last chapter of the second part. After I’m finished watching it, I was thinking of opening a Great Debate to discuss it. But maybe you should, since it was your ‘find’.
Aside from the content, it’s one of the best uses of web technology for learning I’ve seen. I love the way the references pop up on the left-hand side, and if you click them it automatically pauses the program and loads the extra documents. Great resource. So far I’m thinking that after I’ve watched it through I’ll watch it again, and stop it each tme a reference comes up and read the supplemental material.
I’m going to watch a couple more chapters before bed tonight. I’ll probably be finished in a couple of days.
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### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/9 "2004-08-11T07:16:02Z")
Oh, geez. Just wait till you get to the part where they explain why free markets have not taken off in South America. You will love it.
No, please, you are much better at GD threads than me. I will stick to posting weird, funny stuff in MPSIM and responding to rants in TBBQP for now.
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/10 "2004-08-11T14:40:05Z")
Finished part 2 last night. Great stuff. I guess that whole series must be about six hours long, huh?
The thing is, it’s not just a great show about economics, it’s also a great overview of the history of the 20th century.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/11 "2004-08-11T15:41:44Z")
Boy, this is great. And I agree with Sam - as a Web learning tool I have never seen its equal.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/12 "2004-08-11T16:25:22Z")
PBS has really been doing some great stuff the past few years, this series included. [The book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/068483569X/qid=1092241455/sr=8-2/ref=pd_ka_2/104-3431336-9636753?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is also excellent and has much more detail.
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### Author:  [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/13 "2004-08-12T13:53:50Z")
I’ve read _The Commanding Heights_ and _The Prize_ by Yergin. He definitely knows his stuff. He also runs an energy consulting firm in DC and I went to a briefing he put on regarding gas prices. He even made that interesting.
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/14 "2004-08-13T01:07:03Z")
I might just check that out, I remember being quite impressed as a budding young conservative by the PBS series of Milton Friedman’s FREE TO CHOOSE.
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### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-understand-globalization/258673/15 "2004-08-14T00:52:40Z")
> [@Renob](#):
>
> I’ve read _The Commanding Heights_ and _The Prize_ by Yergin. He definitely knows his stuff. He also runs an energy consulting firm in DC and I went to a briefing he put on regarding gas prices. He even made that interesting.
Didn’t they also do a similar show on _The Prize_?