The World is Flat: Understanding the Global Economy
Globalization affects Toledo daily. Newspaper headlines decry the disappearance of our industrial base; in growing number of low-paying, service-oriented jobs; and in the opening of crowded Walmart superstores stocked largely with low-cost Chinese-made products. 

At the same time, global economists, including Thomas Friedman in his New York Times bestseller, The World is Flat, argue that ultimately the global economy benefits all of us, whether we are in developed or developing nations.

Who is right? This year, the Global Education Program at Maumee Valley Country Day seeks to explore this question, as we tackle the following issues:

• What is the global economy?
• What are the benefits of a global economy?
• What are the costs of a global economy?
• What is Northwest Ohio's role in the global economy?
• How does the global economy affect us, and how can we affect the global economy?
• What will the global economy look like when our students are competing in it?

The 2006-07 GEP Speaker Series, Community Book Club, and various curricular initiatives work to answer these questions for our students, faculty, parents, friends, and many in the Toledo community.