One of The Financial Times' best books of 2015
"In this incisive and richly reported book, Greg Ip forces us to rethink our assumptions about risk. He shows that progress might depend on less safety, not more — and that stability can often be destabilizing. FOOLPROOF is the rare book you'll be thinking about long after you've turned the final page."—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and To Sell Is Human
"Drawing on a fascinating range of stories about forest fires and flood control, football helmets and anti-lock brakes, bank runs and epidemics, Foolproof is about the unintended and often very surprising consequences of our attempts to protect ourselves from disasters. Illuminating and entertaining, this book will change the way you think about the world of risk."—Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
"The safer you are, the more you are at risk; crises are born of success as much as failure. Surveying a century of struggles to fend off catastrophe, from financial panic to forest fires, Greg Ip explores these paradoxes deftly, cementing his position as a leading observer of the modern economy—and of the human condition."—Sebastian Mallaby, author of More Money Than God
"This book is so much fun to read that it's easy to forget it's also very important. We live, now, in a world of constant risk—financial, geopolitical, meteorological. There are so many risks that many of us become either numb or blindly panicked or, somehow, both. Greg Ip has written a beautiful guide to thinking properly about the risks we face. It is a book that can make you feel empowered and optimistic, even as it details some of the scariest challenges we face. It's a book we need now, in a world that has become so complex that it's outrun our human brain's ability to make proper sense of the risks we face. But don't read it because it's important. Read it because it's fun, it has good narratives, some psychology, a bit of (easy, enjoyable) maths and a lot of clear, common sense. You will feel smarter and more capable and you will have tons of stories to tell your friends."—Adam Davidson, co-founder and co-host of Planet Money
"It has been said that the problem with making things idiot-proof is that someone will just build a better idiot. Greg Ip's new book shows us just how that happens, from anti-lock brakes to the gold standard, to the financial crisis we are still reckoning with today. Deftly written and filled with lucid explanations of complex topics, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why seemingly safe territory so often turns out to be dangerous quicksand."—Megan McArdle, author of The Up Side of Down
"[An] eye-opening book about risk-taking and crisis.... A provocative challenge to the tendency to elevate ideology over thoughtfulness."—Kirkus Reviews
"Foolproof may change the way you think about some of the most important political, economic and social problems besetting us. It changed my thinking.... An elegant antidote to our myopia.... Foolproof could produce a national, and deserves to be the next, Tipping Point."—Ralph Benko, Forbes
"A powerful and original book on a vital subject - read it!"—Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist Strikes Back
"A thoughtful, entertaining read for those interested in the inner workings of global risk management."—Publishers Weekly
"A short, sharp history of the United States' never-ending search for safety."—Charles Lane, Washington Post
"Entertaining and provocative."—Lorien Kite, Financial Times
"Not just one of the more informative books on the financial crisis, but one of the more entertaining and readable ones."—Jared Bernstein, On the Economy
2015-07-15
Societies and economies "are not inherently stable," writes Wall Street Journal chief economics commentator Ip (The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World, 2010) in this eye-opening book about risk-taking and crisis. The author contends that our successful quest for safety and stability is constantly undermined by increased risk-taking and greater dangers, and he believes "we are going to have to re-examine" the premises as well as their results. Miami's growth as a population center, like the buildup of the Jersey shore, has increased the dangers associated with storms, but governments continue to justify their existence and claim to deliver both economic and political stability. Ip insists that as progress occurs, there is also "an equally irrepressible drive to make things bigger and more complicated." In addition to discussing finance and economics, the author references natural disasters and efforts to make what we do safer—e.g., effects of anti-lock brakes and hard helmets for footballers. For him, there is a trade-off between the benefits and their unintended consequences, and the author discerns a pattern: the safer we feel at any time, the closer we may be to greater risk and danger (see how the widespread use of antibiotics has reduced their effectiveness). Ip argues for a nonideological approach employing prudence and carefulness, and he explains what he identifies as a dichotomy between "engineers" and "ecologists." Engineers believe man will find solutions to any problem. Ecologists, like those who thought forest fires should be allowed to burn themselves out, think things should be left alone. Ip locates similar tensions within government, economics, and finance. He wisely advocates taking "the best of both" while exercising restraint "and not ask[ing] too much of them." A provocative challenge to the tendency to elevate ideology over thoughtfulness. The author amply shows how "stability is blissful, but it may also be illusory, hiding the buildup of hidden risks or nurturing behavior that will bring the stability to an end."
