The way we are governed is changing: governments have less power while the private sector has more. Noreena Hertz, a consultant both to governments and multinationals, challenges long-held assumptions about the nature of power in our society as we enter the 21st century, a time in which we can make more of an impact through our pockets than through the ballot box and how corporations in many parts of the world are taking over from the state responsibility for everything from providing technology for schools to health-care for the community.