Western political leaders must sometimes wish they were Chinese. Then they could deal with the giant technology companies without pesky legislatures, with nary a nod to the law and through a handful of withering denunciations delivered by the organs of government. Instead prime ministers and chancellors can only dream of the powers available to a party general secretary.
That’s a dilemma examined in the latest set of books about powerful and globally active tech behemoths. These books illustrate the nuances and complexities posed by the emergence — in order of longevity — of Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Facebook.
The sheer scale and speed of their success has stoked concerns about seemingly boundless power and influence. Sixteenth-century monarchs accustomed to wrestling with their overmighty subjects — uppity barons, conniving dukes, or sermonising priests — would have sympathy for politicians trying to tame these digital empires.