Part-biography, part-political thriller, The Unaccountability Machine is a rousing exposé of how management failures lead organisations to make catastrophic errors

'Entertaining, insightful ... compelling' Financial Times 'A corporation, or a government department isn't a conscious being, but it is an artificial intelligence. It has the capability to take decisions which are completely distinct from the intentions of any of the people who compose it. And under stressful conditions, it can go stark raving mad.' When we avoid taking a decision, what happens to it? In The Unaccountability Machine, Dan Davies examines why markets, institutions and even governments systematically generate outcomes that everyone involved claims not to want. He casts new light on the writing of Stafford Beer, a legendary economist who argued in the 1950s that we should regard organisations as artificial intelligences, capable of taking decisions that are distinct from the intentions of their members. Management cybernetics was Beer's science of applying self-regulation in organisational settings, but it was largely ignored - with the result being the political and economic crises that that we see today. With his signature blend of cynicism and journalistic rigour, Davies looks at what's gone wrong, and what might have been, had the world listened to Stafford Beer when it had the chance.

"Entertaining, insightful ... Dan Davies makes a compelling case for the use of Stafford beer's management cybernetics ... with The Unaccountability Machine, he provides an elegant new introduction to this intriguing road-not-taken in postwar social science, and makes a compelling case that in the age of AI its time has finally come" - Financial Times

"Drawing on the work of economist Stafford Beer, Davies explores why big systems often make flawed decisions or duck out of them altogether - and the damaging consequences that can follow." - Spear's Magazine

"Funny, fascinating and compelling - this is a book to make you chuckle, to make you angry, and above all to make you think" - The Undercover Economist

"An extraordinary book ... we all blame 'The System' for numerous woes, but what is The System? Dan Davies' immensely readable book tells us how there actually isn't one - it's far far weirder than that. I have come away a wiser man" - Very Bad People

"It is always rewarding to learn how things work, and The Unaccountability Machine lucidly shows the inner workings of corporate life and its systematic" - Sinews of War and Trade

"Really worthwhile. Dan Davies' concept of accountability sinks is a great example of what Edwin Schlossberg meant when he noted that "The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think" - WTF: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us

"Not just a glorious tour of a neglected piece of intellectual history, though it is that, in passing. Really, a demonstration with unexpected tools that the world since the 1970s, far from being governed by steely economic rationality, has actually been in the grip of an ideologised greed that has systematically undermined our ability to manage and organise" - Cahokia Jazz

"Praise for Lying for Money: Dan Davies tells all these stories with verve and wit ... Much of the book is a romp through the crimes of scoundrels - Ponzi, Madoff, Keating, the Krays ... Yet what takes it from absorbing to excellent is the author's insight. Read Lying for Money and you will look at fraud in a whole new way. Actually, you will look at every market transaction you take part in in a whole new way" - The Times

"Highly entertaining, historically fascinating but also intellectually rigorous" - TLS

"If you want to learn to fend fraud, read this" - The Incognito

"An engaging and indispensable guide for novice fraudsters - and for those who want to keep out of their clutches" - Other People's Money