In The Know

• May 9, 2008 11:15 pm US/Central
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  In The Know: Competing In The Global Marketplace

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In The Know: Competing In The Global Marketplace

(WCCO) Thomas L. Friedman is a New York Times columnist, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, the author of "The World Is Flat," and a graduate of St. Louis Park High School. Don Shelby said, this hometown boy has become one of the most important voices in the world.

The Wall Street Journal and US News and World Report, and the entire population of St. Louis Park agree. Friedman's message in "The World is Flat," 3.0, is taken by people my age with a mixture of hope and absolute terror.

Friday, back in Minneapolis, he quoted Bill Gates who once suggested to Freidman that 50 years ago, if a person were given a choice, would they be a B-student born in Peoria, or a genius born in India?

That used to be a no-brainer: B-student in Peoria. No longer, says Freidman, because the world is changing as fast as the speed of light, and if the U.S. doesn't keep up, it could, disastrously, be left behind.

A lot of geniuses are born in India, and in China and we are in a race for our lives. But Friedman assured his audience of educators that America's creative energy will save us… but only if the next generation is encouraged to be creative.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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