It has become fashionable to claim that institutions that blend elements together from civil society and the market such as social enterprises and social impact investing are (a) widespread empirical realities and (b) beneficial trends in terms of welfare, rights and equality. Neither assumption is correct. Confronting the key problems of development and transformation requires a return to traditional, separate-but-connected patterns of interaction between states, markets and civil societies – though updated to take account of new opportunities and threats.