These pages have been regulated for you: issues arising from the governance of markets by NGOs

The pages you are holding have been regulated for you. Not by government, but by a web of organisations which are not directly accountable to you. If you are reading these words in a book, look at the inside cover. Was the pulp from a forest with socially and environmentally sound management practices? Many responsible publishers now only use paper endorsed by an international not-for-profit and nongovernmental organisation (NGO) called the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). It may say the book was printed and bound in China, in which case the factories involved may have been certified to meet the labour conditions considered acceptable by another NGO, called Social Accountability International (SAI). If you printed this on your own printer, the longevity of your colour ink cartridge is probably certified to ISO/IEC 24711:2006(E), a standard from another international private organisation, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). If not, then unfortunately it might have run out before you finished printing our conclusions. Which would be a shame, as you would not read how these webs of highly private authority are beginning to govern markets across the globe in ways that are both useful and problematic, and how, in order to enhance both economic efficiencies and democratic principles, we need to open them up to greater public scrutiny and participation.