Have just finished reading Supercapitalism by Robert Reich, former US president bill clinton's Secretary of Labor. Reich will always be known as the liberal outsider in what tried presenting itself as a pro-business administration.

The book is full of surprises and sweeping statements. Some are over-the-top but it's all thought-provoking stuff. "Supercapitalism" is Reich's term of heightened competition, dissolving barriers to entry, non-stop innovation and global integration. It's a triumph for consumers and investors. But not so good for citizens, with unions withering into irrelevance, regulators left emasculated and heightened economic insecurity reigns.

What makes it even worse, he says, is that money and market forces have spilled over into democracy and corrupted it. As a result, the corporate lobbying business has exploded and the corporate money flowing into politics has been channelled into both sides of the fence. Why is this happening? Because as Reich says, it's simply a case of supply and demand. The supply of politicians and White House staffers has not substantially increased over the last few years, but the demands of corporations seeking to influence the policy process has. And the reason for that is that with supercapitalism, the goal of every corporation is to do whatever is necessary to gain competitive advantage.

According to Reich, another example of how the market has corrupted democracy is corporate social responsibility. He argues that the debate about the moral obligations of companies misses the point. It diverts attention from the harder but more important question of whether the rules of the game should be altered.

As a result, he says, capitalism has been invaded by a "faux democracy''.

"Politicians and advocates praise companies for acting 'responsibly' or condemn them for not doing so,'' says Reich. "Yet the praise and blame are disconnected from any laws and rules defining responsible behavior. The message that companies are moral beings with responsibilities diverts public attention from the task of establishing such laws and rules in the first place.''

The big problem with the book is that Reich doesn't actually offer too many solutions on how to fix the system. Still, what he offers is thought-provoking and challenging. And that's a start.