In this book, Dan Davies examines how large-scale organizations, bureaucracies, and complex systems repeatedly produce irrational, harmful, or catastrophic decisions despite being designed to ensure efficiency and accountability. The author argues that modern institutions increasingly operate as “unaccountability machines,” where responsibility is fragmented, incentives are misaligned, and decision-making becomes disconnected from real-world consequences. Drawing on examples from finance, government, corporate management, and public policy, Davies explains how managerial ideology, performance metrics, and risk-transfer mechanisms undermine judgment and learning. The book also explores how societies came to tolerate systemic failure as normal and suggests structural reforms aimed at restoring responsibility, transparency, and human judgment within large organizations