The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Lewis is one of my absolute favourite writers - he’s such a graceful writer with a dry sense of humor and an unfailing eye for a good story and the humans within it. Often, his approach to a subject is slightly off-beat, coming at it from a slightly different angle, thus unexpectedly illuminating what everyone thought they knew by forcing them to look at it through new eyes.

This one is -highly unusual for him- not about the financial markets but the Trump administration but seen through some of the key agencies (first and foremost, EPA - the United States Environmental Protection Agency - really didn’t know that it is basically home to all of the US’ nuclear stuff. But then again, neither did Scott Pruitt, Trump’s first appointee as head of the agency). If anyone is the unsung hero in Lewis’ tale it is the scientist civil servant, doing what they do, not because they have a political vested interest, nor because they earn a lot (they don’t) but because they care deeply about their field of scientific interest.

Another book which deserves to be widely read - a smooth running civil service machine is really the engine that keeps a state running. Lose or misuse it, and you’ve got “the fifth risk” of collapse.

Reviewed by Pia Eisenhardt

Happy reading! 

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