This is perhaps also the place where we must take note of a basic insight of John Kenneth Galbraith on the nature of appropriate social institutions that society may need. Galbraith was very aware of the negative influence of unchecked power, both because institutional balance is very important for society, but also because power corrupts. He argued for the importance of distinct social institutions that could exercise ‘countervailing power’ over each other. This requirement and its relevance are spelt out in Galbraith's 1952 book, American Capitalism, which also provides an unusual and illuminating account of how the success of American society is deeply dependent on the operation of the power of a multiplicity of institutions that check and balance the farce and possible domination that might otherwise be exercised by one institution.