Michael Lewis: `Don´t bet against the US. It has an incredible capacity for self-reinvention´
(The Guardian Culture News)

The author of The Big Short on Trump´s war on experts and why it would take a pandemic to remind Americans of the importance of good governanceMichael Lewis has made his brilliant journalistic career by finding engaging human stories to illuminate the data-driven, risk-avoiding complexities of our world. In The Big Short Lewis brought to life the extraordinary black comedy of those who had made fortunes betting on the global financial crash. Moneyball examined the characters behind the new science of success in sports. His most recent book, The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, applies his insider´s eye to unsung heroes of government administration, in light of the reckless dismantling of the US civil service under Trump. Lewis defines the fifth risk to civilisation - alongside more visible contenders like climate crisis and nuclear conflict - as a loss of faith in the mission of effective governance, `what you never learn that might have saved you`.The afterword to your new book, written after Trump´s shutdown of government in January 2019, describes the life of Arthur A Allen, whose innovations in air-sea rescue for the US Coastguard saved countless lives in the course of his long career. He was among tens of thousands of civil servants considered expendable by Trump´s regime. Why do you think stories like his have been so rarely heard?There is less diversity in the news. It has gotten harder and harder to tell a small story that is actually a big story. If you don´t start with a celebrity, it is harder to persuade people to take an interest in it. It is almost the reverse of what has happened in entertainment. Netflix has worked out how to make these very niche dramas and comedies and make them universal. News is much less good at it. Continue reading...