✨ Featured Offer
Used, Very Good
$5.81
List Price: $26.95
🚚
See all 5 offers from $5.53 FREE standard delivery by: 02 Apr 2026
Overview
"The election happened," remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. "And then there was radio silence." Across all departments, similar stories were playing out: Trump appointees were few and far between; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace. Some even threw away the briefing books that had been prepared for them.Michael Lewis's brilliant narrative takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its own leaders. In Agriculture the funding of vital programs like food stamps and school lunches is being slashed. The Commerce Department may not have enough staff to conduct the 2020 Census properly. Over at Energy, where international nuclear risk is managed, it's not clear there will be enough inspectors to track and locate black market uranium before terrorists do.Willful ignorance plays a role in these looming disasters. If your ambition is to maximize short-term gains without regard to the long-term cost, you are better off not knowing those costs. If you want to preserve your personal immunity to the hard problems, it's better never to really understand those problems. There is upside to ignorance, and downside to knowledge. Knowledge makes life messier. It makes it a bit more difficult for a person who wishes to shrink the world to a worldview.If there are dangerous fools in this book, there are also heroes, unsung, of course. They are the linchpins of the system--those public servants whose knowledge, dedication, and proactivity keep the machinery running. Michael Lewis finds them, and he asks them what keeps them up at night.
| ISBN-13 | 9781324002642 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 1324002646 |
| Weight | 1.04 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 6.50 x 0.90 x 9.60 In |
| List Price | $26.95 |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Format | Hardcover |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Pages | 256 pages |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
| Published On | 2018-10-02 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Dream Books Co.
Denver, CO, USA
Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting...
Free delivery by: 02 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
Greenworld Books
Arlington, TX, USA
Good condition. It may show normal signs of use such as light writing highlighting or library markin...
Free delivery by: 02 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
3brothers Bookstore
Absecon, NJ, USA
Cover may have light wear pages in very good condition and binding is sturdy; may have other light s...
Free delivery by: 02 Apr 2026
✨ Used, Very Good
Seller details
More Than Words
Waltham, MA, USA
A bright, square, and overall a nice copy.
Free delivery by: 02 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
More Than Words
Waltham, MA, USA
A sound copy with only light wear. Overall a solid copy at a great price!
Free delivery by: 02 Apr 2026