Author:Mariana Mazzucato,Lexie McDougall
Brought to you by Penguin.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, capitalism was stuck. It had no answers to a host of problems, including disease, inequality, the digital divide and, perhaps most blatantly, the environmental crisis. Taking her inspiration from the 'moonshot' programmes which successfully co-ordinated public and private sectors on a massive scale, Mariana Mazzucato calls for the same level of boldness and experimentation to be applied to the biggest problems of our time. We must, she argues, rethink the capacities and role of government within the economy and society, and above all recover a sense of public purpose. Mission Economy, whose ideas are already being adopted around the world, offers a way out of our impasse to a more optimistic future.
'One of the most influential economists in the world' Wired
© Mariana Mazzucato 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
The case for a new approach is overwhelming and Mariana Mazzucato's project is ambitious ... Mission Economy injects the kind of vision, ambition and imagination so desperately missing from government today ... All those in favour of a better future - of prosperity that is broadly shared, first class public services to be enjoyed by all, and a solution to the climate crisis - should read this book.
—— Tom Kibasi , The GuardianOne of the most agile thinkers on post-Brexit, post-Covid Britain.
—— Alex Brummer , Daily Maila wider and more radical critique of modern capitalism ... Mazzucato is a fantastic example of a charismatic policy entrepreneur having a real impact ... Mazzucato rightly shows that the state can rise to grand challenges and set ambitious missions.
—— David Willetts , Research Professional Newsa bracing, optimistic read
—— David MilibandA timely and optimistic vision ... Mazzucato presents her arguments so simply and clearly that they can seem obvious. In fact, they are revolutionary. Rethinking the role of government nationally and in the international economy - to put public purpose first and solve the problems that matter to people - are now the central questions for humanity
—— Jayati Ghosh , NatureIn Mission Economy Mariana Mazzucato argues that societies ought to abjure tired ideologies and embrace the policy approach that put astronauts on the Moon. By setting grand missions for themselves, she writes, and deploying the power of the state in practical ways, they can become more prosperous and equitable ... Mazzucato is an Italian-born economist of a heterodox bent, whose work has long challenged standard economic thinking about the role of markets and government in generating innovation ... compelling ... arresting
—— EconomistMazzucato's new book criticises the narrowness of the philosophy that says the only role for government is to correct "market failures," stepping in when the private sector cannot deliver adequately by itself ... Mission Economy argues for a more agile, flexible public sector, free to adapt to changing circumstances and new challenges. Mazzucato advocates institutional innovation and citizen engagement in the setting of missions and challenges.
—— Diane Coyle , ProspectMazzucato's solution is to redesign capitalism in the interests of stakeholders rather than shareholders, and to reshape the relationship between government and the state as a "mission economy". Civil servants should be active, not passive ... Britain and America, she believes, need to abandon the neoliberal belief in minimalist government that merely regulates the market and lets the private sector drive innovation.
—— Emma Duncan , The TimesIn her new book, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, she argues that the state must lead the way ... Mazzucato is particularly good on the dubious benefits of outsourcing government functions to management consultants and other carpetbaggers.
—— Peter Franklin , UnHerdMazzucato's ... boldness and long-term vision ... argues Western market-led capitalism has failed. Years of privatising state-owned companies and outsourcing essential services, she says, have left governments weakened without benefitting society or saving taxpayers' money ... Governments, economist Mariana Mazzucato contends, should now channel the same spirit and back bold goals to improve the planet and society.
—— Lisa Jucca , Reuters'This book is by an influential thinker on an important topic at a time when trust in direction by governments has risen greatly relative to trust in decentralised competition within markets. Mazzucato recommends goal-oriented innovation as the way forward for the world.'
—— Martin Wolf , Financial TimesMission Economy proposes that we need to corral the state's energies into risky moonshots-just as JFK did with space travel. The mission then needs translating into a target whose achievement can be monitored. According to ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney, the missing ingredient in economics is morality.
—— ProspectIn a book that offers an entertaining and educative amalgam of political and sociocultural insight, statistical data, and crisp opinion, the author digs deeply into the different capacities of human intelligence and how, in global societies, the perception of intellect has mutated into a hierarchical plateau with differing levels of status and influence... A thoughtful, commanding analysis that applauds essential workers and cognitive diversity
—— Kirkus ReviewsA provocative and probing account... a deeply felt and persuasive call for rethinking the social order
—— Publishers WeeklySen's gentle memoir shed[s] light on the distant nooks of a long life of distinction. ... There is something of Tagore in the judicious Mr. Sen. He is an un?inching man of science but also insistently humane.
—— Tunku Varadarajan , Wall Street Journalwarmhearted, clear-eyed account of the formative years of his life, a book that reaches from Myanmar to Berkeley ... a testament to just how far, in one life, one man might go into that vast world ... Sen's writing style is even-keeled and gently humorous.
—— Mythili G. Rao , Washington PostPRAISE FOR AMARTYA SEN
With his masterly prose, ease of erudition and ironic humour, Sen is one of the few great world intellectuals on whom we may rely to make sense out of our existential confusion
—— Nadine GordimerAmartya Sen is one of the most distinguished minds of our time [who] enjoyably mixes moments of profundity with flashes of mischievous provocation
—— William Dalrymple , New York Review of BooksThe world's poor and dispossessed could have no more articulate or insightful a champion
—— Kofi AnnanAn accessible and exceptional humanitarian
—— Jon Snow , New StatesmanSen is one of the great minds of both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We owe him a huge debt
—— Nicholas SternA distinguished inheritor of the tradition of public philosophy and reasoning - Roy, Tagore, Gandhi, Nehru ... if ever there was a global intellectual, it is Sen
—— Sunil Khilnani , Financial Times