Taking a worldwide perspective, including that of Britain (where the process began under Margaret Thatcher), Europe, the former USSR, China, Latin America and the USA, this is a study of the redefinition of the relationship between state and marketplace. This is the process known as privatization - a term which inadequately expresses the phenomenon's far-reaching changes. The authors set out to show how a revolution in ideas is transforming the world economy and to explain why it is happening, how it can go wrong, and what it will mean for the global economy at the dawn of the 21st century.