The Fix: How Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in Decline
Written by Jonathan Tepperman
Narrated by Jonathan Tepperman and Dan Woren
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
A provocative look at the world's most difficult, seemingly ineradicable problems-and the surprising stories of the countries that solved them.
We all know the bad news. The heady promise of the Arab Spring has given way to repression, civil war, and an epic refugee crisis. Economic growth is sputtering. Income inequality is rising around the world. And the threat of ISIS and other extremist groups keeps spreading. We are living in an age of unprecedented, irreversible decline-or so we're constantly being told.
Jonathan Tepperman's The Fix presents a very different picture. The audiobook reveals the often-overlooked success stories, offering a provocative, unconventional take on the answers hiding in plain sight. It identifies ten pervasive and seemingly impossible challenges-including immigration reform, economic stagnation, political gridlock, corruption, and Islamist extremism-and shows that, contrary to the general consensus, each has a solution, and not merely a hypothetical one. In his close analysis of government initiatives as diverse as Brazil's Bolsa Família program, Indonesia's campaign against radicalism, Canada's early embrace of multiculturalism, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to prevent another 9/11, Tepperman isolates the universally applicable measures that can boost and buttress equality, incomes, cooperation, and cohesion in wildly diverse societies. He flips conventional political wisdom on its head, showing, for example, how much the U.S. Congress could learn about compromise and conciliation from its counterpart in Mexico.
Tepperman has traveled the world to write this audiobook, conducting more than a hundred interviews with the people behind the policies. Meticulously researched and deeply reported, The Fix presents practical advice for problem-solvers of all stripes, and stands as a necessary corrective to the hand-wringing and grim prognostication that dominates the news, making a data-driven case for optimism in a time of crushing pessimism.
With an Introduction read by the Author
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Reviews for The Fix
20 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thank goodness for a book with something positive to say about solving the world's problems. A refreshing read. The author does not gloss over or sugar coat the challenges facing the global community today, but neither does he throw up his hands and point to someone to blame. Instead, he dives deep into the issues, from a very current perspective, and shows us how some nations/leaders have started to find answers. We should be teaching to this topic, perhaps using this book, in schools right now so the next generation sees examples of political leaders who made change happen.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Believe it or not, political leaders sometimes manage to not screw up. When presented with problems as serious as corruption or even civil war, every once in a while, they do things that help fix the situation. Jonathan Tepperman, a contributor to various publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, shows how a few leaders around the world did it in very specific and unique cases. This is far from a comprehensive scientific study on good governance. It provides, at best, hints that it is normally wise to compromise with opponents rather than to harshly suppress them, and to shun partisan dogma in favor of what actually works. Sadly, this kind of common sense attitude seems far too uncommon in politics.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The world has lots of problems and the author has a solution. It is a reasonable solution and it just could work if all the pieces come together. It is a very informative book and very interesting. The author has done his homework and makes it sound fairly simple to solve the problems but it will take a lot of work.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a wide ranging book on the state of affairs in the world (not so good), but tempered by stories of places where some things have worked. This includes wealth redistribution in Brazil, immigration in Canada, Indonesia and Islam, Rwanda's reconciliation after its horrible genocidal civil war, Singapore's corruption elimination, Botswana and diamonds, the shale resource in the USA, South Korean and its continuing economic growth, reform governance in Mexico, and the remaking of New York by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Some of the chapters are quite well written. It is good to get a wide look at what's right in the world.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. In it, the author looks at some of the big problems in the world, and then finds specific instances of countries and leaders finding solutions. The premise is good, the solutions he finds are interesting, but ultimately I wish I'd been able to find out the same information from someone who could lend a different perspective. The last chapter of the book outlines the key points the author has found, and I wish this had been previewed at the start because it helped the author make more sense: he's very much a pragmatist. Setting aside rules/regulations/even civil rights if that's what it takes to get something done may be worth it, but I value such things so much that I think I would need some more commentary on that side of things. Sometimes I'm naive, and sometimes someone is railroading people to get something done for the common good (good for the overall common but perhaps not for the individuals who get hurt). Overall, I think Tepperman has done a good job of bringing up these ideas and laying them out - warts and all - so we can talk about them and look for ways to apply their lessons.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really liked this book—I thought it delivered just what he promised. He provides ten examples of how some big problems that impact many nations currently were dealt with by specific countries and their leaders. He defines the problems in a broad sense, details how each one affected a particular country, the actions that were taken and how the situation improved. He doesn’t claim that each solution was perfect, that each leader was above reproach, but shows that there is hope that these issues are not intractable and things can be dealt with.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fix is a hopeful book, and goodness knows we could do with more of that in today’s world. Most of the chapters deal with a particular place and time in recent world history: a recounting of how one nation managed to successfully handle a particular sociopolitical challenge. I found most of these to be quite thought-provoking. However, one area where Tepperman’s book falls short is in addressing the question of how transferable these solutions are. Can a fix for corruption in an Asian nation apply equally to less blatant, more insidious forms of corruption on the other side of the globe? The answer is unclear. But perhaps the strongest message to hear from this book is that daunting social challenges can be ameliorated or solved by a resolute leader who is creative in proposing solutions, courageous in carrying them out, and who has the best interests of his or her people at heart.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free early reviewer book. Different solutions to difficult problems from around the world—if you want some cautious optimism, this might be a source, though whether these are all triumphs or replicable remains up for debate. Policies: Anti-poverty cash programs in Brazil; Canada’s immigration policy encouraging multiculturalism; Indonesia’s anti-terrorist program; Rwanda’s reconciliation after civil war; Singapore’s anti-corruption policies; Botswana’s democracy in the face of its resource curse; the revolution in shale gas technology in the US; South Korea’s pro-growth policies; Mexico’s multipartisan problem-solving; and New York City’s post 9/11 programs to defend the city against terrorism, climate change, and economic insecurity even without much help from the state or the federal government.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fix: How Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in Decline, by Jonathan Tepperman, is both engrossing and highly readable. The author begins by listing and describing our global society’s biggest problems: inequality, immigration, Islamic extremism, civil war, corruption, the “resource curse,” energy, the “middle-income trap,” and political gridlock. Given these considerable challenges the world currently faces, why not look to some of the successes to help guide us forward in a sustainable direction. One great example was Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s refusal to wait for anti-terrorist funding from the State or Federal levels. This cut through enormous bureaucracy and allowed him to move forward implementing his plans to fight terroristic threats to New York City. I recommend this book to any open-minded reader looking for some optimism regarding how humans can correct and resolve some of the most difficult problems our global society is currently dealing with.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jonathan Tepperman discusses the many variables which together affect the success and failure of national programs in his latest book, “The Fix”. Drawing on extensive research from nine countries he carefully explains the history of the problems and the eventual fixes. While the book caries a clear liberal stand, I believe the author succeeded in most cases of sticking to facts and the undeniable results obtained in each sample case. Tepperman makes it clear that there is no one solution for all national problems, and what worked for one nation may not be the best course of action for another, as again there are many variables. None-the-less, seeing that positive results can be achieved is refreshing and encouraging. “The Fix” should be read by all who are interested in solving complicated national problems.