What do you think?
Rate this book
Adrift: America in 100 Charts
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom New York Times Bestselling author Scott Galloway comes an urgent examination of the future of America and the reasons behind its current social and economic crisisIn Adrift, Scott Galloway looks from the past to the present - from 1945 to the 2020s - to reveal how America has reached its current state of political, social and economic crisis. It is on the brink of massive change, change that will disrupt the working of its economy and drastically impact its financial backbone, the middle class.Telling America's story through 100 charts, Galloway demonstrates how crises such as Jim Crow, World War II, and the Stock Market Crash of 2008, as well as the escalating power of technology, an entrenched white patriarchy, and the socio-economic effects of the pandemic, created today's perfect storm.Adrift seeks to make sense of it all, and offers Galloway's unique take on where America is headed and what it will become. It's a vital guide for anyone who wants to understand the state the country is in and how and why its influence on the world has changed.
Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 2022
993 people are currently reading
3559 people want to read
About the author
Scott Galloway
16 books1,988 followersScott Galloway is a clinical professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business, and a public speaker, author, and entrepreneur. He was named one of the world's 50 best business school professors by Poets and Quants.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews
March 12, 2023
If you like visual representations, especially charts, and would like to see how America is doing today versus other countries and versus itself in the past, you might enjoy this book.
I like charts and numbers but I didn't learn anything new in this book.
The author touches on a variety of topics, such as education, income inequality, healthcare, and more. For each chart, he writes a paragraph or so describing it. I would have preferred a more in-depth look.
Or maybe I wouldn't have, since none of this was news to me.
I wondered if the author cherry picked the studies that backed up his own views - he's very obviously Left-leaning. While I myself am so far Left I could almost fall off, I appreciate a non-biased view when looking at something like this. If you offer me numbers, I want numbers, not your personal opinions about them.
(Maybe it's because I'm a control freak, but I hate going into a book expecting one thing and getting another; it makes me feel a loss of control. That might be silly but as I said - control freak 🙋🏼♀️)
I was annoyed by how many times the author brought up immigration and the benefits immigrants bring to America. His mother immigrated here so of course he's pro-immigration, as am I, but I didn't need to be constantly reminded of it. It started to seem like the whole purpose of the book was to convince Americans that immigration is a good thing (which it is, though obviously not so much for the suffering people who must flee their homes and come to a country where half of us despise them).
2.5 stars, but as usual, I'll round it up. I might be a control freak but I'm a generous one.
I like charts and numbers but I didn't learn anything new in this book.
The author touches on a variety of topics, such as education, income inequality, healthcare, and more. For each chart, he writes a paragraph or so describing it. I would have preferred a more in-depth look.
Or maybe I wouldn't have, since none of this was news to me.
I wondered if the author cherry picked the studies that backed up his own views - he's very obviously Left-leaning. While I myself am so far Left I could almost fall off, I appreciate a non-biased view when looking at something like this. If you offer me numbers, I want numbers, not your personal opinions about them.
(Maybe it's because I'm a control freak, but I hate going into a book expecting one thing and getting another; it makes me feel a loss of control. That might be silly but as I said - control freak 🙋🏼♀️)
I was annoyed by how many times the author brought up immigration and the benefits immigrants bring to America. His mother immigrated here so of course he's pro-immigration, as am I, but I didn't need to be constantly reminded of it. It started to seem like the whole purpose of the book was to convince Americans that immigration is a good thing (which it is, though obviously not so much for the suffering people who must flee their homes and come to a country where half of us despise them).
2.5 stars, but as usual, I'll round it up. I might be a control freak but I'm a generous one.
December 1, 2025
RE-READ UPDATE: Below demoralizing review was written halfway through Joe Biden's term, when the prospect of a second Trump fiasco wasn't yet on ANYBODY's radar; and things then were already bad enough. But looking back now, those were in fact "the good old days," as over the past year, pretty much everything discussed here has gone even further — and possibly irrevocably — to shit: international aid, CEO compensation, trade/tariffs, climate, social services, research funding, influence of lobbyists (especially the "billionaire boy's club" tech companies) on government, positive aspects of immigration (especially in terms of entrepreneurship)…
As written in 2022, every other page is either totally eye-opening or totally depressing — and again, that was even before factoring in Trump 2.0 and his new band of idiots, along with the omnipresent AI doom and gloom which seems to be all one hears about when discussing "the future" anymore. Even Galloway's attempt to end the book on a minimal positive note rings hollow three years out, as it focuses on things like renewed Western unity in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine (ha!)and the defeat of COVID leading to a new period of scientific and medical discovery (HA!)…
This book REALLY should be read by every American…but go in there prepared for the worst.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:"I'm sometimes criticized for focusing on the problems of tech or business or society, and not proposing solutions. Well, guilty as charged, I suppose. But let me say two things.
"First, these problems flow in part from failures of perception and awareness…(long explanatory paragraph).
"And second, to be blunt, things are really fucking bad."
So yeah — 5 big fat depressing stars. And okay — while I understand the numerous 3-star reviews that say they agree with the author but didn't learn anything new, since his main points here often do come across as no-brainers — immigrants and infrastructure and just PROGRESS are good; health care and college are too expensive; the wealth gap is out of control; businessmen in government and media worship of tech celebrities are both "really fucking bad;" absolutely everything hinges on a large, strong and prosperous middle class, etc.
But I respectfully think those reviewers miss the point, in that the brilliance of this book — and it is brilliant — lies in Galloway's combining all these individual points (each of which has been the subject of numerous individual books) in one organized — if endlessly depressing — resource, and then communicating them in a simple, easily-grasped (and generally eye-opening, if not outright shocking) graphic format. I mean, sure — we all know the minimum wage is way too low, or that media focuses way too much on celebrity over important issues such as climate change — but when we see it laid out in charts like this, it really hits home in a new way:
And there are 98 other charts that more or less are equally impactful/discouraging.
As a result, this still remains an important book that I recommend to EVERYONE — especially (and unfortunately) those people who will probably never read it or even hear about it. Yes, these shouldn't be "wow, I never realized" revelations; but in today's MAGA America, many of Galloway's conclusions are either unknown, questioned, ridiculed or outright — and increasingly angrily — disbelieved. Which is a shame, because the true value of these charts is that to the extent possible, the admittedly progressive Galloway presents these issues as irrefutable (at least in a perfect world) fact-based realities, not Left/Right arguing points.
In the last ten charts, Galloway tries to offer some solutions, but it's a little too little and a little too late, (and it doesn't help that this is the section that begins with my opening quote above). And yes, his proposals are also generally self-evident: we need to revamp the tax structure; reduce government lobbying; revise our penal system and impose genuine deterrent penalties on companies that hurt the public (my favorite quote is "as Mark Zuckerberg continues to smear lipstick on the cancer that is Facebook"); make finding a solution to climate change the technology priority for the next few decades, etc. But again — obvious or not, WE'RE NOT DOING ANY OF THEM. Washington doesn't appear to be seriously working on ANY of these issues, but is instead wasting its time looking for Hunter's laptop or arguing whether drag queens should read to children or mandating assault weapons for everyone…don't get me started.
One final thought, the author DOESN'T really cover here. He notes that one of the most dangerous trends in America is the growing number of undereducated, lonely, poor, angry and terminally single young men. Well, you know who else has that problem? China — and is this really the situation we want in the world's two superpowers as they edge closer and closer to confrontation?
But anyway…please, go read this book for yourself. READ THIS BOOK, and encourage others to READ THIS BOOK. But don't do it near an open window, because you might be tempted to jump.
Oh, one more thing. Galloway is a frequent guest on CNN's "Smerconish,” and you (and better yet, your high school children) should watch the below to see him explaining why it is utter bullshit for celebrity commencement speakers to encourage graduates to follow their "passions." Insightful, important stuff to share with your kids...God, I'm in awe of smart people, even if more often than not these days they just depress the hell out of me...
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2...
As written in 2022, every other page is either totally eye-opening or totally depressing — and again, that was even before factoring in Trump 2.0 and his new band of idiots, along with the omnipresent AI doom and gloom which seems to be all one hears about when discussing "the future" anymore. Even Galloway's attempt to end the book on a minimal positive note rings hollow three years out, as it focuses on things like renewed Western unity in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine (ha!)and the defeat of COVID leading to a new period of scientific and medical discovery (HA!)…
This book REALLY should be read by every American…but go in there prepared for the worst.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:"I'm sometimes criticized for focusing on the problems of tech or business or society, and not proposing solutions. Well, guilty as charged, I suppose. But let me say two things.
"First, these problems flow in part from failures of perception and awareness…(long explanatory paragraph).
"And second, to be blunt, things are really fucking bad."
So yeah — 5 big fat depressing stars. And okay — while I understand the numerous 3-star reviews that say they agree with the author but didn't learn anything new, since his main points here often do come across as no-brainers — immigrants and infrastructure and just PROGRESS are good; health care and college are too expensive; the wealth gap is out of control; businessmen in government and media worship of tech celebrities are both "really fucking bad;" absolutely everything hinges on a large, strong and prosperous middle class, etc.
But I respectfully think those reviewers miss the point, in that the brilliance of this book — and it is brilliant — lies in Galloway's combining all these individual points (each of which has been the subject of numerous individual books) in one organized — if endlessly depressing — resource, and then communicating them in a simple, easily-grasped (and generally eye-opening, if not outright shocking) graphic format. I mean, sure — we all know the minimum wage is way too low, or that media focuses way too much on celebrity over important issues such as climate change — but when we see it laid out in charts like this, it really hits home in a new way:
And there are 98 other charts that more or less are equally impactful/discouraging.
As a result, this still remains an important book that I recommend to EVERYONE — especially (and unfortunately) those people who will probably never read it or even hear about it. Yes, these shouldn't be "wow, I never realized" revelations; but in today's MAGA America, many of Galloway's conclusions are either unknown, questioned, ridiculed or outright — and increasingly angrily — disbelieved. Which is a shame, because the true value of these charts is that to the extent possible, the admittedly progressive Galloway presents these issues as irrefutable (at least in a perfect world) fact-based realities, not Left/Right arguing points.
In the last ten charts, Galloway tries to offer some solutions, but it's a little too little and a little too late, (and it doesn't help that this is the section that begins with my opening quote above). And yes, his proposals are also generally self-evident: we need to revamp the tax structure; reduce government lobbying; revise our penal system and impose genuine deterrent penalties on companies that hurt the public (my favorite quote is "as Mark Zuckerberg continues to smear lipstick on the cancer that is Facebook"); make finding a solution to climate change the technology priority for the next few decades, etc. But again — obvious or not, WE'RE NOT DOING ANY OF THEM. Washington doesn't appear to be seriously working on ANY of these issues, but is instead wasting its time looking for Hunter's laptop or arguing whether drag queens should read to children or mandating assault weapons for everyone…don't get me started.
One final thought, the author DOESN'T really cover here. He notes that one of the most dangerous trends in America is the growing number of undereducated, lonely, poor, angry and terminally single young men. Well, you know who else has that problem? China — and is this really the situation we want in the world's two superpowers as they edge closer and closer to confrontation?
But anyway…please, go read this book for yourself. READ THIS BOOK, and encourage others to READ THIS BOOK. But don't do it near an open window, because you might be tempted to jump.
Oh, one more thing. Galloway is a frequent guest on CNN's "Smerconish,” and you (and better yet, your high school children) should watch the below to see him explaining why it is utter bullshit for celebrity commencement speakers to encourage graduates to follow their "passions." Insightful, important stuff to share with your kids...God, I'm in awe of smart people, even if more often than not these days they just depress the hell out of me...
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2...
May 10, 2023
100 charts would be impressive if the data actually showed us anything significant. Call this A Brief History of the United States Since World War II, and it's the same as 100 other books with similar timelines out there. This may be of value to a youngster who needs to understand what happened in economics since 1945 with stops at the 1980 station, and then 2000 on. War > prosperity > prosperity becomes the realm of the 1% > stagnation for the rest of us.
"Less than 6 of 10 Americans..." is not data that's valuable. Full stop. If it's not 6, then it's 5, or further less, depending on how deeply the need to impress. The charts are all taken from other sources. So, does that make it part of the author's research? There's a section in the book on fake news, and another on lack of trust in media, and statements like that fit here.
The title is a misnomer - adrift implies rudderless, wandering, aimless. The money in this country knows exactly where it's going. There is at the back a small (tiny) section that touches on where we could go from here, but the steps we need to take have proven daunting since the Reagan administration started unraveling the middle class in 1980. The fixes required count on the same monies that have absolutely no interest in doing any of the suggested improvements. Feels like a PR addendum. I guess I'm not understanding the purpose of this book. It's 296 pages with big fonts, so it feels like a bound Powerpoint presentation. It's a 50 page book, tops.
Galloway is a professor of marketing. Any part of his syllabus that touches on how to get a book deal would probably have good information. His bio at the back - a self-described "serial entrepreneur." Oy.
Maybe I need to drop another star.
I DID NOT read this book twice. I don't know where goodreads gets that.
"Less than 6 of 10 Americans..." is not data that's valuable. Full stop. If it's not 6, then it's 5, or further less, depending on how deeply the need to impress. The charts are all taken from other sources. So, does that make it part of the author's research? There's a section in the book on fake news, and another on lack of trust in media, and statements like that fit here.
The title is a misnomer - adrift implies rudderless, wandering, aimless. The money in this country knows exactly where it's going. There is at the back a small (tiny) section that touches on where we could go from here, but the steps we need to take have proven daunting since the Reagan administration started unraveling the middle class in 1980. The fixes required count on the same monies that have absolutely no interest in doing any of the suggested improvements. Feels like a PR addendum. I guess I'm not understanding the purpose of this book. It's 296 pages with big fonts, so it feels like a bound Powerpoint presentation. It's a 50 page book, tops.
Galloway is a professor of marketing. Any part of his syllabus that touches on how to get a book deal would probably have good information. His bio at the back - a self-described "serial entrepreneur." Oy.
Maybe I need to drop another star.
I DID NOT read this book twice. I don't know where goodreads gets that.
October 12, 2022
I think most people can agree that there are things in America that are not good. We may vehemently disagree on what those things are, how they came to be, and what to do about them, but I don't really know anyone who is walking around saying, "Man, things are just super awesome in the ol' US of A these days!"
This book attempts to figure out exactly what the problems are, why they happened, and if they can be ameliorated. Its focus is on the last 40 years or so, when the postwar era officially ended and Reagan came on the scene. Charts, graphs, and infographics examine various aspects of society, from commerce to our environment to our social lives, to explain what has changed and speculate on how those changes have altered our society.
Though there is the requisite "What can we do about it?" ending, the information, though interesting and well-presented, is mostly just depressing. I appreciate that they tried to find silver linings and point out effective remedies, but many of their suggestions involve sweeping systemic/societal change that seems unlikely. It was still worthwhile reading and I definitely recommend it, but maybe take it in little bits and have some kind of chaser available afterwards to cheer yourself up.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
This book attempts to figure out exactly what the problems are, why they happened, and if they can be ameliorated. Its focus is on the last 40 years or so, when the postwar era officially ended and Reagan came on the scene. Charts, graphs, and infographics examine various aspects of society, from commerce to our environment to our social lives, to explain what has changed and speculate on how those changes have altered our society.
Though there is the requisite "What can we do about it?" ending, the information, though interesting and well-presented, is mostly just depressing. I appreciate that they tried to find silver linings and point out effective remedies, but many of their suggestions involve sweeping systemic/societal change that seems unlikely. It was still worthwhile reading and I definitely recommend it, but maybe take it in little bits and have some kind of chaser available afterwards to cheer yourself up.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
April 23, 2023
Knowing a bit about Scott Galloway, I've expected some non-obvious data sets, interesting reasoning, and maybe even well-thought-through suggestions on what to do with that. I've got nothing like that - the charts were not surprising at all, they didn't bring any revelation, I've done no notes, and there was nothing memorable.
Literally, this book is very close to being a total waste of time. It's like a talk with a boring uncle when you have no common topics, so you try to bring in something absolutely not controversial both of you can easily agree to.
Avoid.
Literally, this book is very close to being a total waste of time. It's like a talk with a boring uncle when you have no common topics, so you try to bring in something absolutely not controversial both of you can easily agree to.
Avoid.
January 9, 2024
This book is quite an intriguing read, because it’s a long series of fascinating charts and graphs. Who doesn't like a good chart? Galloway's got this knack for turning piles of data into these eye-catching, easy-to-get graphics. There's a lot to chew on here. You can just flip through a few pages whenever you've got a minute, and you'll come out the other side feeling a bit smarter.
But, and it's a big but, this book feels like Galloway's on a hellbent mission to show just how messed up the world can be. It's not really "100 charts on America"; it's more like "100 charts on why America is a hopeless sinking ship.” You finish the book, and you're not informed, you're freaked out and kind of stuck. Like, what now?
Here's my beef with it: Galloway totally skips over ANYTHING good that's happened. Every single graphic tells a tale of woe, but last I checked, good things actually did happen sometime in the last 50 years. We've got stuff like a massive drop in infant mortality, lowest poverty levels in ages, crime rates going down, and huge wins in preventing disease. But nope, Galloway doesn't touch any of these. It's non-stop doom and gloom.
I get it, he's a smart guy. His insights? Fascinating. But the more I read, the more I feel like he's not trying to educate. He’s trying to scare the hell out of me. And honestly, I don't need that kind of negativity. I want to be informed, sure, but I also need to hold onto some hope, you know? A little light at the end of the tunnel that says, "Hey, it's not all bad."
Books like this, they're part of why everyone's so divided. You've got folks like Galloway on one side, painting everything black, and then there's an equal number of doom-mongers on the other side. It's just a bunch of echo chambers getting louder and angrier.
In the end, Galloway's not just giving us the hard facts; he's fanning the flames. The angrier people get, the more he's in the spotlight. But what about the rest of us? I don't need a fairytale, but I do need to believe that the world isn't just one giant dumpster fire. There's got to be some good out there, right?
But, and it's a big but, this book feels like Galloway's on a hellbent mission to show just how messed up the world can be. It's not really "100 charts on America"; it's more like "100 charts on why America is a hopeless sinking ship.” You finish the book, and you're not informed, you're freaked out and kind of stuck. Like, what now?
Here's my beef with it: Galloway totally skips over ANYTHING good that's happened. Every single graphic tells a tale of woe, but last I checked, good things actually did happen sometime in the last 50 years. We've got stuff like a massive drop in infant mortality, lowest poverty levels in ages, crime rates going down, and huge wins in preventing disease. But nope, Galloway doesn't touch any of these. It's non-stop doom and gloom.
I get it, he's a smart guy. His insights? Fascinating. But the more I read, the more I feel like he's not trying to educate. He’s trying to scare the hell out of me. And honestly, I don't need that kind of negativity. I want to be informed, sure, but I also need to hold onto some hope, you know? A little light at the end of the tunnel that says, "Hey, it's not all bad."
Books like this, they're part of why everyone's so divided. You've got folks like Galloway on one side, painting everything black, and then there's an equal number of doom-mongers on the other side. It's just a bunch of echo chambers getting louder and angrier.
In the end, Galloway's not just giving us the hard facts; he's fanning the flames. The angrier people get, the more he's in the spotlight. But what about the rest of us? I don't need a fairytale, but I do need to believe that the world isn't just one giant dumpster fire. There's got to be some good out there, right?
March 13, 2023
America in 100 charts… Man. What an undertaking. Not only was the author setting himself up to capture all of the issues in modern America with 100 charts (which is shockingly few when you really think about it), but he was also setting himself up to boil each of those 100 incredibly complex issues which he did choose down to 2-3 pages of text and a chart. In my opinion, this book grossly oversimplified 100 different issues and used the facade of “statistics” to appear objective and authoritative. Even when i agreed with the author, which was like 50% of the time, I found myself shaking my kindle and thinking "its not that simple!!”
To be very transparent to anyone who has decided to read this far into my review, there are some very specific things that the leading voices on the left and the leading voices on the right do that boil my blood. On the right, there can be a tendency to simplify an insanely complex issue, like minimum wage, into a singular talking point, probably involving socialism and government overreach. This drives me nuts. But then, someone on the left will come in all high-minded with a couple paragraphs and maybe even some numbers and totally school their opponent with all the condescension and pseudo-objectivism you could imagine. This might drive me nuts even more. Minimum wage is not a one sentence issue, but its also not a 3 paragraph issue, and to act like you’ve just cracked the code with your 3 paragraphs and a graph comes across as so arrogant to me. It is more like a “leading economists devote 30 years of their lives to studying this issue and the data are still inconclusive” kind of issue.
SO, it was hard for me to not read this book as: “(three pages on minimum wage)… now that I’ve comprehensively schooled you on that… (three pages on carbon emissions)… now that I’ve comprehensively schooled you on that… (three pages on the wealth gap)…”
To be very transparent to anyone who has decided to read this far into my review, there are some very specific things that the leading voices on the left and the leading voices on the right do that boil my blood. On the right, there can be a tendency to simplify an insanely complex issue, like minimum wage, into a singular talking point, probably involving socialism and government overreach. This drives me nuts. But then, someone on the left will come in all high-minded with a couple paragraphs and maybe even some numbers and totally school their opponent with all the condescension and pseudo-objectivism you could imagine. This might drive me nuts even more. Minimum wage is not a one sentence issue, but its also not a 3 paragraph issue, and to act like you’ve just cracked the code with your 3 paragraphs and a graph comes across as so arrogant to me. It is more like a “leading economists devote 30 years of their lives to studying this issue and the data are still inconclusive” kind of issue.
SO, it was hard for me to not read this book as: “(three pages on minimum wage)… now that I’ve comprehensively schooled you on that… (three pages on carbon emissions)… now that I’ve comprehensively schooled you on that… (three pages on the wealth gap)…”
February 26, 2023
Im not sure what was more of a waste - the time it took to read this book or the time the author spent writing it.
It was completely scattered and the “charts” were just pointing out the obvious, rather than interesting insights.
It was completely scattered and the “charts” were just pointing out the obvious, rather than interesting insights.
October 19, 2022
Having studied issues effecting our country Scott Galloway, the author, found data that closely demonstrated the importance of the issue. He then charted his finding! Therefore his sub-title is "America in 100 Charts!"
The book is a great summary of where the country is today, as compared to the past or to other countries or comparative technologies, or, or, or!
The book is a list of issues, using charts to truthfully and effectively describe the facts, good or bad!
The book is an easy read because after reading a few paragraphs, the chart clearly explains the relevant facts!
I "read" the book (its 100 charts in a day-seven hours! I will keep the book for a reference and use it in political discussions to get to the most relevant explanation!
The book is a treasure for persons interested to policy!
Get it to read!
The book is a great summary of where the country is today, as compared to the past or to other countries or comparative technologies, or, or, or!
The book is a list of issues, using charts to truthfully and effectively describe the facts, good or bad!
The book is an easy read because after reading a few paragraphs, the chart clearly explains the relevant facts!
I "read" the book (its 100 charts in a day-seven hours! I will keep the book for a reference and use it in political discussions to get to the most relevant explanation!
The book is a treasure for persons interested to policy!
Get it to read!
December 21, 2022
Interesting concept, and I appreciate the approach of trying to break down some very complex economic issues with charts to illustrate. While I did find it helpful, and I understand that part of the point of this was to simplify, I did find the lack of intersectionality and really grappling with the colonial, patriarchal, white supremecist underpinnings of "the good old days" to be a little frustrating. I also, frankly, found it to be an overwhelmingly depressing and hopeless book. There were no real solutions offered, and the picture painted is a bleak one.
November 30, 2022
Scott Galloway tells the story of America today in 100 charts.
I plan to read this again.
I plan to share this with others.
I plan to read this again.
I plan to share this with others.
January 22, 2023
As another review mentioned, there is no useful data here. Axes don’t have labels, units can be missing, at times the data is transformed but there is no mention of it, no explanation of why certain year ranges were used, no mention of huge events that contributed to large peaks or dips in data. I can overlook sloppy graphs in books usually but when that’s the entire point of the book it’s just disrespectful to my time. Don’t bother reading.
January 9, 2026
The main thesis here is that America works best when we have policies that support the middle class, and that we haven't really been doing that since about 1970. I pretty much agree. Most of the info here is not new to me, and I don't think this presentation is likely to convince much of anyone who has a different opinion.
While there may be 100 charts, each is accompanied by a page or more of text. If the charts were more carefully made, so much text should not be necessary.
Sadly, the trends depicted in many of these charts have gotten much, much worse in the few short years since this book was published (2022). Extending these charts further, there would be some very alarming bumps starting around 2024.
While there may be 100 charts, each is accompanied by a page or more of text. If the charts were more carefully made, so much text should not be necessary.
Sadly, the trends depicted in many of these charts have gotten much, much worse in the few short years since this book was published (2022). Extending these charts further, there would be some very alarming bumps starting around 2024.
October 11, 2022
I loved this book, it was a quick read, but it offered many different ways to view the opportunity we have with our country. It's pretty impressive as I believe the author did countless hours of research just to understand these ideas and then formalized them into a structured book. Not only is that amazing, but then gave the reader the ability to read each chart, and no more than a page of information, and understand deeper meanings.
It should be looked at subjectively, and although statistics don't lie, how they were obtained can be a bit deceitful. This book has made me want to take a few of the charts in this reading, and go a bit deeper to find the root cause of a problem, or how it has evolved over the years.
Would recommend it to anyone within the marketing/business field. I will be keeping this on my bookshelves with the intent to continually pick it up and refresh some of the information again.
It should be looked at subjectively, and although statistics don't lie, how they were obtained can be a bit deceitful. This book has made me want to take a few of the charts in this reading, and go a bit deeper to find the root cause of a problem, or how it has evolved over the years.
Would recommend it to anyone within the marketing/business field. I will be keeping this on my bookshelves with the intent to continually pick it up and refresh some of the information again.
July 19, 2023
The first time I read this book I came away with the impression that Galloway misused data to tell a
misleading story about America's social ills. On second read, I think his use of data is actually pretty fair and contributes more-or-less well to his argument; the problem is, Galloway does a terrible job of actually articulating that argument, constantly getting lost in the weeds.
Here is Galloway's thesis: The competition at the heart of capitalism is the ultimate engine of human "progress," encompassing everything from economic prosperity to social health, but it must be constrained by institutions (more on these later) which protect the middle class. Beginning in the 1980s under President Reagan, those institutions began to decline, leading to an economic stagnation that has produced a host of woes facing the United States. The solution: remove some institutional barriers to competition while restoring some institutional protections for the middle class.
It's at minimum a plausible argument, and over the course of the book Galloway actually provides solid evidence (some of it in the form of charts, as he ecstatically points out) for it. The problem is 1) Galloway fails to put those ideas all in a sequential paragraph, instead scattering them throughout the book, and 2) he constantly muddies the water with both observations irrelevant to his point and pat aphorisms. (Side note, why does every older man constantly spout "their phrases"? Older men just love aphorisms, and Galloway is no exception)
For example, this is how Galloway phrases his thesis in the introduction: "We’ve gotten closest to realizing our ideals when we’ve balanced ruthless capitalism with the ballast of a strong middle class. Our drift away from that course is at the heart of this book. Shifting us back is the objective of my recommendations."
Not terrible, but not particularly clear either.
Next, here is an incomplete list of the things (he should be arguing "institutions," but not all of these things are institutions) Galloway thinks have declined, to the detriment of the middle class:
-The progressive tax rate
-Infrastructure
-Labor compensation rising commensurate with rising productivity/profits
-Community values (versus "rugged individualism")
-Affordable healthcare
-Low higher education costs
-Idolizing "astronauts and civil rights leaders" (versus "innovators")
-Trust in news
-Water safety
-Government R&D spending
-The corporate tax code (loopholes, havens, and bailouts)
-Marriage
-Healthy masculinity
-Et cetera.
Lots of those things are important, and some might even relate to his argument (which, once again, is: institutions creating competition and protecting the middle class from the excesses of unrestricted competition--"ruthless capitalism"--have both atrophied). The problem is, when it gets to the details, Galloway isn't particularly clear or focused.
Here is a helpful through-line for any consumer of Galloway's articles, books, or podcasts: like every person who becomes a master in his field, Galloway is insightful and brilliant when he is operating in that field, and just as clueless as anyone else when operating outside it.
Galloway is a four or five-time entrepreneur (depending on how you count it) who has been teaching economics at NYU Stern for 21 years. He is insightful and brilliant when he analyzes subjects related to entrepreneurship or economics; like when he describes the exorbitant costs (and benefits) of higher education, or outlines how worker productivity and inflation have wildly outstripped the minimum wage, or relates how social media monetizes our attention. He is much less insightful when he makes generalizations about U.S. foreign policy or tosses out aphorisms about the meaning of life.
In conclusion, this book benefits from Galloway's broad knowledge and experience of markets and economics, but suffers from Galloway's extremely poor organization of his argument. I think his argument is interesting and even compelling, but it took me two reads and a lot of detailled note-taking to parse it out. My advice: read Galloway's articles instead and pass on this book.
misleading story about America's social ills. On second read, I think his use of data is actually pretty fair and contributes more-or-less well to his argument; the problem is, Galloway does a terrible job of actually articulating that argument, constantly getting lost in the weeds.
Here is Galloway's thesis: The competition at the heart of capitalism is the ultimate engine of human "progress," encompassing everything from economic prosperity to social health, but it must be constrained by institutions (more on these later) which protect the middle class. Beginning in the 1980s under President Reagan, those institutions began to decline, leading to an economic stagnation that has produced a host of woes facing the United States. The solution: remove some institutional barriers to competition while restoring some institutional protections for the middle class.
It's at minimum a plausible argument, and over the course of the book Galloway actually provides solid evidence (some of it in the form of charts, as he ecstatically points out) for it. The problem is 1) Galloway fails to put those ideas all in a sequential paragraph, instead scattering them throughout the book, and 2) he constantly muddies the water with both observations irrelevant to his point and pat aphorisms. (Side note, why does every older man constantly spout "their phrases"? Older men just love aphorisms, and Galloway is no exception)
For example, this is how Galloway phrases his thesis in the introduction: "We’ve gotten closest to realizing our ideals when we’ve balanced ruthless capitalism with the ballast of a strong middle class. Our drift away from that course is at the heart of this book. Shifting us back is the objective of my recommendations."
Not terrible, but not particularly clear either.
Next, here is an incomplete list of the things (he should be arguing "institutions," but not all of these things are institutions) Galloway thinks have declined, to the detriment of the middle class:
-The progressive tax rate
-Infrastructure
-Labor compensation rising commensurate with rising productivity/profits
-Community values (versus "rugged individualism")
-Affordable healthcare
-Low higher education costs
-Idolizing "astronauts and civil rights leaders" (versus "innovators")
-Trust in news
-Water safety
-Government R&D spending
-The corporate tax code (loopholes, havens, and bailouts)
-Marriage
-Healthy masculinity
-Et cetera.
Lots of those things are important, and some might even relate to his argument (which, once again, is: institutions creating competition and protecting the middle class from the excesses of unrestricted competition--"ruthless capitalism"--have both atrophied). The problem is, when it gets to the details, Galloway isn't particularly clear or focused.
Here is a helpful through-line for any consumer of Galloway's articles, books, or podcasts: like every person who becomes a master in his field, Galloway is insightful and brilliant when he is operating in that field, and just as clueless as anyone else when operating outside it.
Galloway is a four or five-time entrepreneur (depending on how you count it) who has been teaching economics at NYU Stern for 21 years. He is insightful and brilliant when he analyzes subjects related to entrepreneurship or economics; like when he describes the exorbitant costs (and benefits) of higher education, or outlines how worker productivity and inflation have wildly outstripped the minimum wage, or relates how social media monetizes our attention. He is much less insightful when he makes generalizations about U.S. foreign policy or tosses out aphorisms about the meaning of life.
In conclusion, this book benefits from Galloway's broad knowledge and experience of markets and economics, but suffers from Galloway's extremely poor organization of his argument. I think his argument is interesting and even compelling, but it took me two reads and a lot of detailled note-taking to parse it out. My advice: read Galloway's articles instead and pass on this book.
February 26, 2023
The premise for this is good, but oh man, someone needs to get this guy some of Tufte, Edward R.'s books, or perhaps How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody. A lot of the charts are awful; they look very pretty but do a poor job of conveying the key information.
For example, there's a comparison of US defense spending, Afghanistan's GDP, and the Taliban's income. The point is that US defense spending massively dwarfs the latter two. Galloway presents this by comparing the height of the Empire State Building (US defense spending) with the lampposts and fire hydrants next to that building. That's an excellent narrative or prose comparison -- but it makes for an awful chart.
This should just be a 3-bar bar graph, perhaps with some mechanism to clearly show how miniscule the second two are. But instead we get a chart with pretty illustrations of the Empire State Building, a lamppost, and a fire hydrant...all approximately the same size on the page?
The book is riddled with chartjunk, which is a pity because there's a great message here.
For example, there's a comparison of US defense spending, Afghanistan's GDP, and the Taliban's income. The point is that US defense spending massively dwarfs the latter two. Galloway presents this by comparing the height of the Empire State Building (US defense spending) with the lampposts and fire hydrants next to that building. That's an excellent narrative or prose comparison -- but it makes for an awful chart.
This should just be a 3-bar bar graph, perhaps with some mechanism to clearly show how miniscule the second two are. But instead we get a chart with pretty illustrations of the Empire State Building, a lamppost, and a fire hydrant...all approximately the same size on the page?
The book is riddled with chartjunk, which is a pity because there's a great message here.
January 30, 2023
I was hoping for a little more focus on social issues. We all (hopefully) know that the top 1% controls everything yet that information was restated and re-illustrated over and over again.
I know the intent was to leave objective fact-based graphs and let us interpret what it means and how it impacts us. But I wish to point out one very particular topic. Page 64 discusses how we are turning away from our communities. One of the pictographs shows a drastic drop in enrolled Boy Scouts over the last 30 years. It is not fair to blame our lack of care for community building. It is, however, fair to identify the blatantly obvious reasons that MANY news media articles discuss over the activities and censorship the Boy Scouts wished to allow and promote up until recently. The finger was pointed at the wrong issue.
I know the intent was to leave objective fact-based graphs and let us interpret what it means and how it impacts us. But I wish to point out one very particular topic. Page 64 discusses how we are turning away from our communities. One of the pictographs shows a drastic drop in enrolled Boy Scouts over the last 30 years. It is not fair to blame our lack of care for community building. It is, however, fair to identify the blatantly obvious reasons that MANY news media articles discuss over the activities and censorship the Boy Scouts wished to allow and promote up until recently. The finger was pointed at the wrong issue.
May 4, 2023
I thought this book was fine for what is was: a book of charts with short explanations. Most of the information wasn't mind-blowing or revelatory. It was more confirmatory of what many Americans already suspected.
November 17, 2022
If you didn't already know most of what is in this book I would be surprised. Not worth it, just read some internet articles on reddit.
October 19, 2022
Storytelling through data at its absolute finest.
Scott Galloway has a real knack for seeing trends and communicating what they mean in a way that catches your attention. In this book, he tells the story of America and how the country got to a state of partisanship, corruption, and selfishness. Though the narrative is overwhelmingly negative (similar to the global sentiment towards America—oops, that’s a spoiler), many moments of hope are sprinkled throughout the book. I also appreciate how, unlike other literature, Professor Galloway dedicates an entire section of the book to possible solutions to help mend the fabric of American society and elevate it back to a respectable Nation.
Here are the significant charts that stood out to me per chapter:
China spends 10x more of it’s GDP on core infrastructure than the United States which is why it shouldn’t be surprising you can get from Bejing to Shanghai in 4.5 hours despite being a greater distance than Boston to DC which takes 7 hours.
The top 1% hold almost half the stocks owned by households whereas the bottom 80% hold just 13%.
The US has the highest number of Nobel Prize winners ~52%.
Involvement in communities like Church, Guides, Rotary, and even talking to people has gone down since the 90’s.
Students are behind in their learning due to COVID and the biggest concern is that students who do not learn to read proficiently by third grade have difficulty catching up and are 4 times less likely to graduate from high school = lifetime achievement of millions is lowered.
The number of young adults who live with their parents is at its highest rate. At the end of the Great Depression, 48% lived with parents, post covid, that number is at 52%.
The worlds view on the US has steeply declined over the past 20 years—steeply.
Refugees show a high degree of resiliency—their initial salaries start off low, but after 25 years, they hold a median income higher than the overall population.
Friendship is dwindling — 15% of men and 10% of women have no close friends at all which are close to double the numbers reported 30 years ago.
Between 1965 - 1975 more than 66% of members in Congress served the country in uniform, today its less than 20%—not a surprise here given how dumb US politicians are.
I loved reading this book. It’s full of insightful data and concise commentary wrapped in the raw, no-bullshit, satirical tone you’d expect from Scott Galloway.
Scott Galloway has a real knack for seeing trends and communicating what they mean in a way that catches your attention. In this book, he tells the story of America and how the country got to a state of partisanship, corruption, and selfishness. Though the narrative is overwhelmingly negative (similar to the global sentiment towards America—oops, that’s a spoiler), many moments of hope are sprinkled throughout the book. I also appreciate how, unlike other literature, Professor Galloway dedicates an entire section of the book to possible solutions to help mend the fabric of American society and elevate it back to a respectable Nation.
Here are the significant charts that stood out to me per chapter:
China spends 10x more of it’s GDP on core infrastructure than the United States which is why it shouldn’t be surprising you can get from Bejing to Shanghai in 4.5 hours despite being a greater distance than Boston to DC which takes 7 hours.
The top 1% hold almost half the stocks owned by households whereas the bottom 80% hold just 13%.
The US has the highest number of Nobel Prize winners ~52%.
Involvement in communities like Church, Guides, Rotary, and even talking to people has gone down since the 90’s.
Students are behind in their learning due to COVID and the biggest concern is that students who do not learn to read proficiently by third grade have difficulty catching up and are 4 times less likely to graduate from high school = lifetime achievement of millions is lowered.
The number of young adults who live with their parents is at its highest rate. At the end of the Great Depression, 48% lived with parents, post covid, that number is at 52%.
The worlds view on the US has steeply declined over the past 20 years—steeply.
Refugees show a high degree of resiliency—their initial salaries start off low, but after 25 years, they hold a median income higher than the overall population.
Friendship is dwindling — 15% of men and 10% of women have no close friends at all which are close to double the numbers reported 30 years ago.
Between 1965 - 1975 more than 66% of members in Congress served the country in uniform, today its less than 20%—not a surprise here given how dumb US politicians are.
I loved reading this book. It’s full of insightful data and concise commentary wrapped in the raw, no-bullshit, satirical tone you’d expect from Scott Galloway.
April 24, 2025
Recommendation from a friend. I do like Scott Galloway's opinions and agree with him on a lot but nothing in this was really surprising and it was pretty cherry picked as you would expect. the graphs and charts made an interesting addition but again, nothing too surprising.
Of course I have to add, like a lot of other books I'm reading that were published in the last few years or the last few months, the current administration has really thrown the final points and conclusions of these books on their heads. In the case of this book, he ends it on what he thinks is an uplifting note, examining things that have brought America together and shown America's greatness. What, you ask, was the thing that brought America together? Our support of Ukraine in 2022 in their war against the Russian invaders. Now that Americans have elected a pro Putin government which has decided to abandon Ukraine and Europe, this example he gives could not be more depressing. Even the formally most pro-Ukraine Republican politicians in Congress have rolled over for Trump. The other example he gives for the greatness of America? That would be the scientists who created the covid vaccine and work on amazing advancements in science and medicine everyday. Again, the current administration has completely gutted these labs, fired many of the scientists, defunded universities and have brought in an anti-vaccine head of HHS. It's almost worse to be reminded of where we are at in April of 2025 compared to where we were just a few months ago. 😑🫤😞
Of course I have to add, like a lot of other books I'm reading that were published in the last few years or the last few months, the current administration has really thrown the final points and conclusions of these books on their heads. In the case of this book, he ends it on what he thinks is an uplifting note, examining things that have brought America together and shown America's greatness. What, you ask, was the thing that brought America together? Our support of Ukraine in 2022 in their war against the Russian invaders. Now that Americans have elected a pro Putin government which has decided to abandon Ukraine and Europe, this example he gives could not be more depressing. Even the formally most pro-Ukraine Republican politicians in Congress have rolled over for Trump. The other example he gives for the greatness of America? That would be the scientists who created the covid vaccine and work on amazing advancements in science and medicine everyday. Again, the current administration has completely gutted these labs, fired many of the scientists, defunded universities and have brought in an anti-vaccine head of HHS. It's almost worse to be reminded of where we are at in April of 2025 compared to where we were just a few months ago. 😑🫤😞
November 27, 2022
I appreciated the breakdown of several topics regarding US national policy, s/o to the need for the rich to pay more taxes. A quick read since there is no profound analysis, though I appreciated the charts. I would say that Galloway oversimplifies structural/ institutional issues. For example, when he mentions that we haven't been able to unite like we did in the decades after WWII, he fails to recognize the colonial undertones that came from the Truman Doctrine, etc. I wish there had been more intersectionality in this book, considering we are in the 21st century. Though, I would say that I appreciated Galloway's attempts to give sound solutions to the problems in the United States through the creation of unity. I would give this book a 3.5 stars.
November 11, 2024
“All anyone can ask for is a level playing field, a fair shot, and the security needed to take risks.”
Data is destiny. And Galloway digs into the numbers in accessible and sometimes unique/funny ways to show just how much our country has changed in the past century and how some things (like our views of our neighbors, the impact of global aid/trade, etc) have gotten simpler while some things (like our tax code, loneliness, and power structures outside of government) have gotten more complex. It’s pretty damning and angry, rightfully so.
Makes you even more angry when you realize his thoughtful recommendations won’t be honestly debated unless there’s a freaking miracle.
But until then, grab an oar because we’re adrift, hopelessly off course.
Data is destiny. And Galloway digs into the numbers in accessible and sometimes unique/funny ways to show just how much our country has changed in the past century and how some things (like our views of our neighbors, the impact of global aid/trade, etc) have gotten simpler while some things (like our tax code, loneliness, and power structures outside of government) have gotten more complex. It’s pretty damning and angry, rightfully so.
Makes you even more angry when you realize his thoughtful recommendations won’t be honestly debated unless there’s a freaking miracle.
But until then, grab an oar because we’re adrift, hopelessly off course.
January 20, 2023
Scott Galloway, an American business success story himself, shows what 2022 America looks like in graphic form. He uses survey data and government statistics to show where our economy, society, and communities are compared to "before" -- which may be the fifties or the seventies or the 12th century. The charts and graphs provide insights into what we probably feel about our country but can't put our finger on. He even offers his take on what it will take to "fix" things -- if only there was the political will to accomplish the recommended changes.
June 11, 2024
Very insightful and incisive book from Prof Galloway, whose weekly newsletter is mandatory reading for me on Fridays. As always, he starts with an analysis of economic trends from WW2 to today and the book gains momentum with discussions of the downstream social effects we all recognize around us. The charts and concise explanations provide a comprehensible framework for us lay people. The news isn’t all dire - he wraps up the book with a series of possible salves, if not outright solutions to our current conditions.
January 7, 2023
Although I agreed with & appreciated many of Galloway's points, I found his argument convoluted & scattered throughout the narrative. There were many of the author's positions which I wish were fleshed out/backed up with more information & rationality, instead of: "Here's a graph to confirm what I'm saying!" Overall, Galloway's book was not very remarkable to me, but I did enjoy the author's narration of the audiobook!
September 15, 2024
Galloway is one of America's business leaders and thinkers. His book is a call for a reinvestment into institutions that unify our nation.
He has well researched and reasoned ideas that can provide direction to the country and benefit our citizenry.
An interesting and thought provoking book.
He has well researched and reasoned ideas that can provide direction to the country and benefit our citizenry.
An interesting and thought provoking book.
October 3, 2022
I’d give it five stars but it has pie charts.
December 18, 2022
Some very interesting data and perspectives! Enjoyed this book, even though the author and I would disagree on a lot! 5⭐️
January 17, 2023
Would make a great coffee table book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews