Ezra's Bookshelf

The Fifth Risk

by Michael Lewis

Politics & Government

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Michael Lewis's 'The Fifth Risk' examines what happens when people who don't understand government take control of it. Lewis gained unprecedented access to the federal bureaucracy during the Trump transition, particularly the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce. What he found was alarming: incoming officials who had no idea what these agencies did, no interest in learning, and no plan for managing the vast responsibilities they were inheriting. The book profiles career civil servants, from scientists tracking nuclear weapons to meteorologists forecasting hurricanes, who dedicate their lives to managing risks most Americans don't know exist. Lewis shows how their expertise, built over decades, could be lost through neglect or hostility from political appointees who viewed government work with contempt. The title refers to what one official called 'the risk a society runs when it falls into the habit of responding to long-term risks with short-term solutions,' including the risk of abandoning the institutional knowledge that keeps complex systems functioning. While the book emerged from a specific political moment, its deeper argument about the value of governmental competence transcends partisanship. Readers will come away with appreciation for the unsung work that keeps American society functioning and concern about how easily it could be undermined.

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