The way we are governed is changing. Government has less and less power to influence how we live our lives, while the private sector has more power than ever before to control what we do and what we think. Yet the business pages of the newspapers still come as a supplement, while the activities of governments dominate the front pages and the headlines. Endless scandals have shown the extent to which big-business now has politicians in its pockets; recent allegations against Peter Mandelson and Keith Vaz are only the latest in a series that have included senior politicians all over Europe and elsewhere. To understand the new world in which we are living, we need to learn to challenge long-held assumptions about the nature of power in society; The Silent Takeover is an essential guide to that new understanding as we enter the 21st century- a time in which we can no longer rely on politicians - of whatever stripe - to meet our needs; a time in which business, rather than political parties, offers the way forward; a time in which we can make more of an impact through our pockets than we have ever done through the ballot box. Based not only on Noreena Hertz's experience as a consultant