This book by two Brooklyn opinion writers and podcasters is not a bad book, but it is not a great one either.
It starts out with a short unrealistic utopian vision of the world of 2051.
Much of the book is concerned with the possibilites and potental of the U.S. economy to deal with such problems as the housing shortage, the climate crisis, health care, technology, and pandemics, with the emphasis on the inhibiting role of governments at all levels. There is a distinct right wing emphasis on the burden that excessive and often conflicting government regulations play. This is most evident in the contrasting results of the housing problems of California and Texas.
They note in passing that per capita, the U.S. has « twice as many lawyers as Germany and four times as many as France….In 1967 there were three cases per 100,000 directed at enforcing federal laws. By 1976 there were 23. By 2014, there were 40. »
The role of government in working with industry in developing Covid vaccines is appropriately praised, and held up as an example for other innovations particularly in dealing with climate change with a pull rather than a push approach.
This book is very much concentrated on the U.S. with little recognition that other counties even exist. It is dry, humourless, wordy and longer than the above pagination would suggest. In the ebook version there are many duplications of page numbers. The hardcover is 304 pages, not counting the extensive Notes and Index.
3/5
Thanks, Goodreads.
The Passionate Reader 