
Time to Start Thinking
America in the Age of Descent
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ralph Lister
-
By:
-
Edward Luce
About this listen
In Time to Start Thinking, Edward Luce offers an incisive and highly engaging account of America’s economic and geopolitical decline. The Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times for the last four years, Luce has traveled the country interviewing public officials like Lawrence Summers and Senator Don Riegle, business leaders including Jeff Immelt and Bill Gates, as well as teachers, health care workers, and scientists. His interviews are candid and revealing: former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen told Luce about the catch-22–like situation of American defense spending: “We are borrowing money from China to build weapons to face down China.” Mullen is just one of many voices who are united in their belief that America must evolve or face serious consequences. Luce’s research, analysis, and reporting covers areas from education to health care to politics to business and innovation. Luce frames the issues historically, comparing America today to Britain in the early-twentieth century, when U.S. inventors developed the light bulb and the internal combustion engine, usurping Britain’s position as the center of research and development, while Germany took the lead in the chemicals and metallurgy industries. As a result, Britain lost its place at the top of the world’s pecking order. Today, the same situation is evolving in America: Chinese and Korean scientists and innovators are becoming increasingly competitive with those in America, and companies like IBM and General Electric now employ more people outside the United States than inside it. In domestic politics, things are also dire: conversation between Republicans and Democrats has all but ceased - Barney Frank calls it “the dialogue of the deaf,” and the once noisy Senate dining room, specifically designed so that members of different parties would be forced to talk to one another, is now empty most lunch hours. No surprise, when the politicians are busy talking to lobbyists and trying to raise campaign funds. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has more than 2,300 different I.T. systems on which it spends more than $10 billion a year and the crippling bureaucracy in the education system leads more than a fifth of new teachers to leave their jobs within three years.
In what may be the smartest book yet on why and how America is broken, Luce offers a critical, nonpartisan analysis of the issues facing America today and a renowned journalist’s report on a country in economic, social, and political crisis.
©2012 Edward Luce (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Broken Money
- Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better
- By: Lyn Alden
- Narrated by: Guy Swann
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Broken Money explores the history of money through the lens of technology. Politics can affect things temporarily and locally, but technology is what drives things forward globally and permanently. The book's goal is for the listener to walk away with a deep understanding of money and monetary history, both in terms of theoretical foundations and in terms of practical implications.
-
-
It’s the ledger stupid
- By Jessica Hopman on 03-14-24
By: Lyn Alden
-
Lords of Finance
- The Bankers Who Broke the World
- By: Liaquat Ahamed
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.
-
-
interesting insight into interwar period!
- By Toru on 11-27-09
By: Liaquat Ahamed
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.
-
-
Big landscape in time and subjects; Austrian view
- By Philo on 08-29-22
-
The Fourth Turning Is Here
- What the Seasons of History Tell Us About How and When This Crisis Will End
- By: Neil Howe
- Narrated by: Neil Howe
- Length: 20 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-five years ago, Neil Howe and the late William Strauss dazzled the world with a provocative new theory of American history. Looking back at the last 500 years, they’d uncovered a distinct pattern: modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting roughly 80 to 100 years, the length of a long human life, with each cycle composed of four eras—or “turnings”—that always arrive in the same order and each last about 25 years. The last of these eras—the fourth turning—was always the most perilous, a period of civic upheaval and national mobilization.
-
-
A little baffled
- By John Coleman on 07-18-23
By: Neil Howe
-
When Money Dies
- The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany
- By: Adam Fergusson
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Money Dies is the classic history of what happens when a nations currency depreciates beyond recovery. In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt....
-
-
Useless details, missing the big points
- By Jean Le Lupi on 07-04-12
By: Adam Fergusson
-
The Lords of Easy Money
- How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
- By: Christopher Leonard
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, no one would say the Federal Reserve. For most of its history, the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press. When the economy grew, it was credited to the Fed. When the economy imploded in 2008, the Fed got credit for rescuing us.
-
-
Pointless book
- By Darrin on 02-23-22
-
Broken Money
- Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better
- By: Lyn Alden
- Narrated by: Guy Swann
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Broken Money explores the history of money through the lens of technology. Politics can affect things temporarily and locally, but technology is what drives things forward globally and permanently. The book's goal is for the listener to walk away with a deep understanding of money and monetary history, both in terms of theoretical foundations and in terms of practical implications.
-
-
It’s the ledger stupid
- By Jessica Hopman on 03-14-24
By: Lyn Alden
-
Lords of Finance
- The Bankers Who Broke the World
- By: Liaquat Ahamed
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.
-
-
interesting insight into interwar period!
- By Toru on 11-27-09
By: Liaquat Ahamed
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.
-
-
Big landscape in time and subjects; Austrian view
- By Philo on 08-29-22
-
The Fourth Turning Is Here
- What the Seasons of History Tell Us About How and When This Crisis Will End
- By: Neil Howe
- Narrated by: Neil Howe
- Length: 20 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-five years ago, Neil Howe and the late William Strauss dazzled the world with a provocative new theory of American history. Looking back at the last 500 years, they’d uncovered a distinct pattern: modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting roughly 80 to 100 years, the length of a long human life, with each cycle composed of four eras—or “turnings”—that always arrive in the same order and each last about 25 years. The last of these eras—the fourth turning—was always the most perilous, a period of civic upheaval and national mobilization.
-
-
A little baffled
- By John Coleman on 07-18-23
By: Neil Howe
-
When Money Dies
- The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany
- By: Adam Fergusson
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Money Dies is the classic history of what happens when a nations currency depreciates beyond recovery. In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt....
-
-
Useless details, missing the big points
- By Jean Le Lupi on 07-04-12
By: Adam Fergusson
-
The Lords of Easy Money
- How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
- By: Christopher Leonard
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, no one would say the Federal Reserve. For most of its history, the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press. When the economy grew, it was credited to the Fed. When the economy imploded in 2008, the Fed got credit for rescuing us.
-
-
Pointless book
- By Darrin on 02-23-22
-
Currency Wars
- The Making of the Next Global Crises
- By: James Rickards
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1971, President Nixon imposed national price controls and took the United States off the gold standard, an extreme measure intended to end an ongoing currency war that had destroyed faith in the U.S. dollar. Today we are engaged in a new currency war, and this time the consequences will be far worse than those that confronted Nixon. Currency wars are one of the most destructive and feared outcomes in international economics.
-
-
don't be misled
- By peter on 04-01-12
By: James Rickards
-
What's Our Problem?
- A Self-Help Book for Societies
- By: Tim Urban
- Narrated by: Tim Urban
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creator of the wildly popular blog Wait but Why, a fun and fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in our strange, unprecedented modern times.
-
-
Good for a while but then goes hard off the rails
- By g27c on 04-20-23
By: Tim Urban
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
-
-
A mostly successful and interesting history
- By A reader on 02-24-09
By: Niall Ferguson
-
How the World Really Works
- The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.
-
-
Let me save you a credit: progress is hard
- By Dalton on 06-06-22
By: Vaclav Smil
-
The Great Reset
- Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism
- By: Glenn Beck, Justin Trask Haskins
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An international conspiracy among powerful bankers, business leaders, and government officials; closed-door meetings in the Swiss Alps; and calls for a radical transformation of every society on earth - the Great Reset sounds like it is one henchman-with-an-eyepatch away from being the plot for the next James Bond movie. But The Great Reset is not a work of fiction. It is a highly influential movement among the world’s elite to “reset” the global economy using banks, government programs, and environmental, social, and governance metrics.
-
-
Where Do We Go From Here?
- By David on 02-04-22
By: Glenn Beck, and others
-
End Times
- Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
- By: Peter Turchin
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
-
-
Boomer History
- By Kevin on 08-12-23
By: Peter Turchin
-
The Confidence Map
- Charting a Path from Chaos to Clarity
- By: Peter Atwater
- Narrated by: Peter Atwater
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does our desire for certainty and control have to do with our decision-making? According to behavioral economics pioneer Peter Atwater, the answer is simple: everything. In The Confidence Map, Atwater explores the hidden role of confidence in the choices we make, and why events described as being unprecedented are often entirely predictable—if we know what to look for. Using compelling stories from the past and present, Atwater shows listeners how to apply the same tools he teaches to help them make sense of complex situations and optimize strategy.
-
-
Excellent book
- By steve on 08-27-23
By: Peter Atwater
-
Central Banking 101
- By: Joseph J Wang
- Narrated by: Bill Anciaux
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Central banking is magic. With a few words, the Fed can lift the stock market out of desperation and catapult it towards euphoric highs. With a few keystrokes, the Fed can conjure up trillions of dollars and fund virtually unlimited Federal spending. And with a few poor decisions, the Fed can plunge the entire world into a recession. The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful institutions in the world, and also one of the most difficult to understand.
-
-
Very dense!
- By Timothy on 12-01-24
By: Joseph J Wang
-
The Most Important Thing
- Uncommon Sense for The Thoughtful Investor
- By: Howard Marks
- Narrated by: John FitzGibbon
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career.
-
-
Five Star Book, two Star Audiobook
- By Johnny on 06-08-15
By: Howard Marks
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
-
-
Modern Dictators & President who wants to be them
- By AJ on 07-23-20
By: Anne Applebaum
-
The New Map
- Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations
- By: Daniel Yergin
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is being shaken by the collision of energy, climate change, and the clashing power of nations in a time of global crisis. The "shale revolution" in oil and gas - made possible by fracking technology, but not without controversy - has transformed the American economy, ending the "era of shortage", but introducing a turbulent new era. Almost overnight, the United States has become the world's number one energy powerhouse - and, during the coronavirus crisis, brokered a tense truce between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
-
-
Not his best: Overly broad, kind of sloppy
- By Jonathan Kelman on 02-23-21
By: Daniel Yergin
What listeners say about Time to Start Thinking
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NordiKelt
- 02-08-18
great educational explanation but lacks solutions
enjoyed it but was let down by lack of any solutions towards the end. otherwise a great overview of what has happened to the USA.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris Reich
- 09-03-12
Painful
The book isn't overly political and doesn't blame any particular party. So if you're looking for a Limbaugh style stab at Obama, you'll be disappointed. Nor will you find a justification for the policies of the current administration.
We are not doing what we need to do to make sure we have a future. The country is in serious trouble and we're treading water. I liked the audio version enough to buy several hard covers for give-aways. Will things change?
I doubt it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-15-18
highly prescient. Even more relevant today
A good analysis of the current political gridlock. Poses interesting questions about some of the assumptions we take for granted as Americans. One particular line had me laughing/crying "One day one of these crazies (Nader, Trump, etc) was going to win"
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joshua Kim
- 06-10-12
A Wonderfully Depressing "Time to Start Thinking"
If you read The Economist then Time to Start Thinking is your kind of book. There is something almost soothing about a book that is simultaneously well-written and depressing. Somehow learning about the decline of the U.S. from a Brit -- Luce is the Washington Bureau Chief of London's Financial Times -- feels more palatable than similar arguments made by an American.
Luce is a long time observer of the U.S. political and economic scene, and has basically decided after years of living in the States that we are pretty much hopeless. Time to Start Thinking is a passionate indictment of the U.S.'s political classes, both left and right, and the inability of our elected officials to seriously address our fundamental economic problems.
Included in the tour of American shortcomings are our crumbling infrastructure, our wildly unequal primary schools, and our ever more costly postsecondary education and health care systems. Luce is particularly elegant in describing the loss of middle-income jobs, and the inability of more of and more Americans (particularly young people and non-post graduated educated older adults) to achieve economic stability. The U.S. is not headed for imminent economic collapse, but rather a slow erosion of productivity and standards of living for the middle class, and global economic realignment around Asia.
This is not a book that is big on policy recommendations. Luce is fond of quoting H.L. Mencken dictum that, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
The solutions that Luce does recommend, such as reducing military spending and pulling back on overseas military commitments, are unlikely to free up enough dollars to make possible the large scale investments in infrastructure and education necessary in a competitive global economy. Growing health care costs and an aging population will continue to limit the ability of government to fund investments, and health insurance costs will continue push business to limit hiring and invest instead in automation over people (as worker health care costs put U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage with non-U.S. producers).
Time to Start Thinking is a good companion book to read with Diamandis' Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think (review 4/9/12). Where Luce sees U.S. economic problems as structural, and our politics way too polarized to offer cogent solutions, Diamandis believes that rapid technological advancements (when applied to health care, education, and other sectors) will lead to rapid advances in productivity and standards of living. Technological utopianism vs. cleared eyed rationalism. Wouldn't it be awesome to see a debate between these two authors?
Are we living in an age of descent?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Noah Smith
- 03-10-14
A wake-up call
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
American institutions are getting old and clunky and ossified and outdated. This book is sounding the alarm. If you're an American, you should listen to it. It will give you a sense of urgency about reforming the way we do things.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RJ Mac
- 04-15-12
Another Must Listen
There is no doubt that Luce will get you thinking as you listen to his non-partisan report on how and why American government is broken and under pressure. He tells it like it really is and doesn't pander to the left or the right. While he offers some vague 'solutions' at the end of the title, the listeners are left at the end to decide for themselves - based on his unbiased reporting - what path America should take going forward, if it is truly possible to do so.
One minor complaint about this title: the F-bomb is used approximately 5 times in the performance (and I assume that it appeared in the book); usually when someone is being quoted. However, when the word appears, it is bleeped-out (loudly) but there is little doubt what curse word is being used. I found that annoying - just keep the word in there as we are all adults and I'd rather have the audio be completely true to the text.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nsukido
- 04-08-21
wow
this book is wonderful, scary, and phropetic. I found it a little sluggish in the middle and I didn't agree with everything but this book is important and more people should read it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!