Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk

reviewed by Marc Schulman

If you want to read a genuinely frightening book, read the Fifth Risk. While much attention has rightly been given to President Trump and the goings on at the White House, the Fifth Risk examines some of the most critical work that the Federal government does, from food safety to nuclear safety The book outlines in details what some of the departments do, the level of expertise that existed in these department under both Bush and Obama and then circles win at the very frightful parts what has happened under President Trump. Lewis depicts department hallowed out, with much of the upper management representing decades of experience gone. It describes political appointees with no real knowledge in their fields taking over the departments. Even worse he lay out in vivid detail how The Obama department prepared voluminous briefing books that described in great detail what each department did, and where potent crisis laid, but the few incoming personnel from the Trump administration never showed any interest at even looking at any of them or hearing first hand from their predecessors what they did.