A great read on an important topic
OK, I am not impartial on this one. I am CEO of Alibris, meaning that if you buy this book, I make money. This is however, true of ANY book you buy here -- and we appreciate it a lot.
And in this case, I am married to the author -- so I make even more money (unless you buy it used, which I encourage you to do).
With the financial disclosures out of the way however, let me plug the book. It's a great story that has not been well told before.
The world is seeing something unique in its history: 40% of earth's population, aka China and India, are pulling themselves out of poverty at an astonishing rate (OK, India is just getting started, China has been at it for 15 years or so). A lot of factors account for this: functioning markets, property rights, domestic savings rates, global markets (to buy all their stuff), public services, etc.
But one of the key elements is know-how. Some of this is technical, some financial, some managerial. Where are Chinese and Indians getting the know-how to grow their economies greater than 10%/year? From us!
This is the story of how graduate students educated in the US stayed here to work, joined technology startups, learned the Silicon Valley system and took this knowledge home to help transform their home economies. The work is based on a decade of real research -- Anno knows roughly every Chinese and Indian entrepreneur in Silicon Valley -- a very large group.They tell their story in this book.
It is an important story and remarkably well told. If you care about technology-led growth and the world economy, give it a read.
And you don't have to take my biased word for it. Jeff Sachs, who directs the Earth Institute at Columbia and advises governments round the world, notes that "AnnaLee Saxenian has long been the leading observer of Silicon Valley's 'entrepreneurial ecosystem.' ... This book is essential reading for all who want to understand how the global economy works in the 21st century".
