Will this trend of regional specialization continue or, in a flat world, will innovative technology emerge across regions and countries?
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The conventional wisdom on globalisation is that it produces a flat world in which everybody consumes the same bland products in the same bland settings: a universal airport lounge.
At the Nasdaq OMX Group, a single technician sits in front of eight flat-panel computer screens in a quiet operations center, 51 stories above the World Trade Center construction site.
However, if today's "flat world" means that a student in Jordan or Budapest, Hungary, or the Gangsu province of China has the same educational opportunities as a student in Palo Alto, Calif.
In an ideal world he would like to have access to a safe, flat sports area.
To save for big ticket items in the future - a deposit on a flat, a baby, a dream world trip - add another 10%.
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If all car firms in the world ran flat out, they could produce 68m cars a year (including other light vehicles such as pick-ups and sport utility vehicles).
Novelis, which had been spun off from Alcan in 2005, had nearly a one-fifth share of the world market for flat-rolled aluminum, used for making beverage cans and auto parts.
It is also confronting the grim reality that, in a world filled with e-mail and cell phones, greeting card sales are flat.
In a world of smartphones, mini and full size tablets, laptops, desktops and flat screen TVs, many designers have started to build responsive sites to serve this profusion of screen formats.
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In some parts of the world, particularly in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, flat taxes have been cited as a spark for economic growth.
But in our flat, connected and transparent 21st-century world, specialized knowledge and expertise may differentiate you for a moment in time, but it likely won't carry you through an entire career.
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