BOOK REVIEW: The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (with compliments by Times Reads)
I'm not a fan of politics to be honest, I regard it a messy game where the people and politicians collide head on. But reading this book has stirred my interest in the rather misty world of US politics.
The morning after Trump was elected president, the people who ran the US Department of Energy - an agency that deals with some of the most powerful risks facing humanity - waited to welcome the incoming administration's transition team. Nobody appeared. Across the US government, the same thing happened: nothing.
People don't notice when stuff goes right. That is the stuff government does. It manages everything that underpins our lives, from funding free school meals, to policing rogue nuclear activity, to predicting extreme weather events. It steps in where private investment fears to tread, innovates and creates knowledge, assesses extreme long-term risk.
And now, government is under attack. By its own leaders.
In this book, the author reveals the combustible cocktail of wilful ignorance and venality that is fuelling the destruction of a country's fabric. All of this, the author shows, exposes America and the world to the biggest risk of all.
Quite an engaging read for something politically written, it gave me a chance to get over my initial critical analysis of politics. I now have learnt more on the departments involved in America's government body and how most of it works, which was surprisingly intriguing. Highly recommended for political aficionados and also for those who want to have an insight into the world of the White House dealings.
