The first major organizational system based on paper was probably the early-modern form of the British Royal Mail, which at its peak was picking up and delivering mail several times a day in London.

FORBES: The End of Pax Papyra and the Fall of Big Paper

And already, PostComm, the British regulator, has granted licences that allow rival operators to compete with Royal Mail for bulk contracts for letters.

ECONOMIST: Royal Mail

Robert Hardman, a royal correspondent for the Daily Mail, offers a convincing tour of the British monarchy as an institution, apeing the vantage point of the fly-on-the-wall documentary.

ECONOMIST: Why the queen has to be seen to be believed