The Storm Before the Calm
The Storm Before the Calm focuses on the United States, predicting how the 2020s will bring dramatic turmoil and reshaping of the American government, foreign policy, economics, and culture. This riveting book examines the clear cycles through which the United States has developed, upheaved, matured, and solidified. In thrilling details, the Storm Before the Calm covers issues such as the size and scope of the federal government, shifts in corporate structures, and new cultural trends that will react to longer life expectancies.
"[A] prescient anticipation of our current woe... the book contains real insights.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“The vitriol of the Trump era masks crises in our economy and governing institutions that will deepen before resolving themselves, according to this probing and ultimately hopeful diagnosis of America’s discontents . . . Friedman offers a lucid, stimulating assessment of which way the wind is blowing.”
— Publishers Weekly
“[Friedman] offers a sharp analysis of American life, especially the roots of the knack for reinvention that allows the nation to start over after crises. Americans invented their country, he writes, and lacking shared history and culture, 'invented themselves.' Friedman also discusses the nation's reluctance to accept its responsibilities as the 'sole world power' and the tensions between its technocratic and industrial working classes. A provocative, idea-filled burst of prognostication.”
— Kirkus
"Friedman’s well-written book lays out convincing cases for how the institutional and socioeconomic cycles have played out repeatedly since America’s founding and how the two patterns will, for the first time, almost converge during this decade."
— Lone Star Literary Life
“This book is of obvious general interest but is essential reading for anyone with a role in strategic planning. It combines clear, interesting prose with a thought-provoking projection of upcoming challenges and ultimate outcomes.”
— Douglas Duncan, Chief Economist, Fannie Mae
“In The Storm Before the Calm, George applies his geopolitical forecasting model to the United States and tells a unique story of American history from our founding to today. The result is a useful dispassionate framework for understanding where we are now and where we are likely going as a nation.”
— Joe Daly, Gallup Senior Partner