Sun Sep 22, 2019, 11:38 PM
SharonAnn (13,503 posts)
Just finished "The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis. Great book. Well written and very, very interestingLast edited Mon Sep 23, 2019, 08:12 AM - Edit history (1)
Highly readable, as are all his books. Covers some of the “buried” functions that our government performs and how important they are. Based on real profiles of and interviews with people who work in these functions. I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.
It’s really, really interesting and I learned a lot. Didn’t want it to end. “What would you name as the top 5 risks? Lewis asks this question to former government employees from the departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce about their agencies. The former chief risk officer at Energy answers: 1) a broken arrow (a lost or damaged nuclear missile/bomb), 2 and 3) North Korea and Iranian nuclear aggression, 4) the vulnerability of the electrical grid. It is the 5th risk that Lewis focuses on, and it where the book’s title comes from. That risk is bad project management. Most of what the government does, as Lewis points out, only makes the news when things go very badly. The real work of government involves dealing with enormously complex challenges that can’t be managed by the market.”
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5 replies, 1552 views
Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum
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Author | Time | Post |
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SharonAnn | Sep 2019 | OP |
The Velveteen Ocelot | Sep 2019 | #1 | |
mahina | Sep 2019 | #2 | |
Jim__ | Sep 2019 | #3 | |
Crabby Appleton | Sep 2019 | #4 | |
lunatica | Sep 2019 | #5 |
Response to SharonAnn (Original post)
Sun Sep 22, 2019, 11:42 PM
The Velveteen Ocelot (105,763 posts)
1. I agree, and very disturbing, too.
Response to SharonAnn (Original post)
Sun Sep 22, 2019, 11:50 PM
mahina (16,004 posts)
2. I liked it too, very much. The t admin failure to transition should be
Headlines.
Admission: audiobook |
Response to SharonAnn (Original post)
Mon Sep 23, 2019, 05:11 AM
Jim__ (13,660 posts)
3. Thanks for the post - just added this book to my wish list. - n/t
Response to SharonAnn (Original post)
Mon Sep 23, 2019, 05:36 AM
Crabby Appleton (5,231 posts)
4. I've read most if not all of his previous books
Thanks for the info!
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Response to SharonAnn (Original post)
Mon Sep 23, 2019, 10:00 AM
lunatica (53,410 posts)
5. Thanks
I looked it up on Amazon to read the reviews. I’ll consider purchasing it. The first few pages were interesting and held my attention. The author just dives right in to an incident in the first paragraph which is unusual and, to me, very good. It got my attention right away. I don’t like slogging through books, be that the sign of a good reader or not.
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