During the last 50 years, the world has experienced increased growth, inequality and a change in state–market–civil society relations similar to the ‘Roaring Twenties’ in the 1920s. This growing inequality can be attributed to the hegemony of neoliberalism that has been confronted by rising civil society as a ‘global conscience’ for fairer world governance. The high economic growth achieved in the emerging economies shows the centrality of the state to achieving more shared growth in developing countries. A new hybrid state–market–society alliance holds the potential for fairer global governance, checking greed and achieving equitable growth in the future.