Thomas L. Friedman

Barnes & Noble Inc. reported $1.1 billion in sales for its third quarter, a 4.4-percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year. Store sales decreased 4.4 percent to $971 million, while sales at BN.com increased two percent to $109 million.

Talk of globalization is everywhere, even at the doctor's office—or mine, at least. A simple visit to the doctor last night turned into a discussion about offshoring. The doc had heard about the new book by New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, called "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). He was quite affected by the reports he had heard about it, and he is not alone. Despite the fact that almost every industry is individually trying to harness the impact that offshoring will have in the long run, and that offshoring has been a