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The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy
The New York Times Bestseller, with a new afterword
"[Michael Lewis’s] most ambitious and important book." —Joe Klein, New York Times
Michael Lewis’s brilliant narrative of the Trump administration’s botched presidential transition takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its leaders through willful ignorance and greed. The government manages a vast array of critical services that keep us safe and underpin our lives from ensuring the safety of our food and drugs and predicting extreme weather events to tracking and locating black market uranium before the terrorists do. The Fifth Risk masterfully and vividly unspools the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works.
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Reviews
Against his other works, this is thin. In the discussion of the WIPP accident, Mr Lewis fails to ascribe the responsibility to the fool of a federal purchasing agent at LANL who saved a few dollars buying organic cat litter when federal P&P stipulated otherwise. The contractor can only execute as directed by P&P; not make policy. The explosion in barrel #6866o is classic governmental bungled lack of accountability and transparency.
By The old bald one
I am a big fan of Michael Lewis. I re-read the Big Short a number of times. As a Fed for over a decade, I was so disappointed in this book. Lewis was played by a number of bureaucrats he interviewed. He failed to understand their incentives and they failed to recognize their role in our representative government. No one elected them, no one made them infallible. Indeed, as the pandemic laid bare for many of us, the bureaucracy was as much a let down as any other decision makers involved. The CDC failed to do its job in the most basic ways: testing, contact tracing, you name it. Although it was fashionable to lay blame at the foot of others, our bureaucrats should shoulder blame too. Lewis’s analysis leaves little room for error at this level and that disappointed me. I thought he would see through the bureaucracy like he does Wall Street, but alas that was not to be.
By Ma Slater
Love the deep dives into various government organizations. They’re filled with such amazing, talented and dedicated Americans. So interesting! Feels like a novel, reads like a thriller. But it’s true!
By Peanut in Austin
I’ve read every book by Michael Lewis and while this one is not his best, it is a beautifully crafted single person perspective on the value of good government and the people that make incredibly positive contributions to our lives, often without recognition.
By superbellsam
If you are curious about the inner workings of our government institutions read this book. A easy read that pays homage to the often overlooked and underappreciated public servants who keep our massive infrastructure safe. I can't imagine privatizing one of these institutions, something's do not belong in a capitalist hands.
By googlyeyes96