Over at their website, The Economist is conducting a rather interesting experiment. For the US presidential election, they've mapped out an electoral college for the entire world. As they write in the explication: The Economist has redrawn the electoral map to give all 195 of the world's countries (including the United States) a say in the election's outcome. As in America, each country has been allocated a minimum of three electoral-college votes with extra votes allocated in proportion to population size. With over 6.5 billion people enfranchised, the result is a much larger electoral college of 9,875 votes. Obviously, their poll doesn't reflect the entire world's actual preference. But it's nonetheless a strong enough statement in recognition of globalization that Thomas Friedman probably wishes he thought of it. The map, you'll notice, is predominantly blue. In fact,...

Continue reading