The blockchain ledger [...] could be used to confirm online identities, and potentially votes [...] Its potential to transform democracy has been wildly exaggerated by some people, however, who see it as a means of dispensing with government altogether, replacing neoliberal fantasy taken to its ultimate conclusion. Even lesser roles for the blockchain ledger might potentially be co-opted, as those with the most computing power could come to control the verification process. [...]

To what extent do we still need nation-states? We tend to imagine that they have always existed and always will, but they are a recent phenomenon, and could be a temporary one. A study by the journalist Debora MacKenzie explains that, before the late eighteenth century, there were no clear national boundaries, and no border checks. Even in the nineteenth century, many Europeans could not name the nation to which they belonged. The locus of attachment for most people was their village or town. The discrete nation-state developed in response to rising industrial and social complexity. [...]