I love myself a laconic, facts-in-your-face read. Today's work is an ode to decentralisation and the misty line that separates public and private: split in 4 sections and written in a way I personally adore, it's a read for the scholar and gentleman.
Section 1 discusses self-regulation in modern over-regulated societies such as the US or EU: how private, streamlined processes end up being the ones that firms actually want to conform to, rather than government proscriptions. The chapter discusses the position that experts play, as well as how customary regulation comes into existence.
The second section is the weakest in all aspects: discussing the labour and ecological aspects of transnational corporations. Every sentence makes you tired and the chapter is mercifully short in its pandering to the limousine liberal crowd.
Number three goes into cyberspace: explaining who governs it, what digital sovereignty is, as well as the many-faceted problem of domain name markets and national encroachments thereupon. This is the most technical part of the book, which may lose some but is well worth diving into.
Chapter four explains the public-private partnership trend worldwide: the EU, USA, China and Russia all have their own specific flavour of preferential regulation that allows them to "defend their markets". The themes of chapter 1 are hearkened back to, and a little flirtation is sent the way of private dispute resolution and private legislation.
Overall, it's a great descriptive work to get a feel for how governments are trying to make themselves less obsolete and are just barely not failing.
8/10