With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing governments to spend on an unprecedented scale, it’s time to restore the state to its proper role as a rudder for the broader economy.
Economics - Innovation - Inclusive Growth - Public Purpose
Featured articles by mazzucato
We Socialize Bailouts. We Should Socialize Successes, Too.
Governments have spent trillions in tough times without creating structures that turn short-term fixes into a more inclusive economy.
No More Free-Lunch Bailouts
With governments spending on a massive scale to mitigate the economic fallout from COVID-19, they should be positioning their economies for a more sustainable future.
Governments Need to ‘Radically Transform’ the Way They Think About Spending
Marina Mazzucato thinks businesses need a green roadmap.
Are we heading into another Depression?
Without a global recovery plan, demand will stagnate and inequality will increase
The Big Failure of Small Government
It is no coincidence that countries with mission-driven governments have fared better in the COVID-19 crisis than have countries beholden to the cult of efficiency.
Top economists warn the UK not to repeat austerity after the Covid-19 crisis
Mariana Mazzucato and others on why the UK must not impose spending cuts in response to higher debt.
How to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine for All
Strong health systems, adequate testing capacity, and an effective, universally available vaccine will be key to protecting societies from COVID-19.
Articles By Mazzucato
Toward a New Fiscal Constitution
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing governments to spend on an unprecedented scale to sustain businesses and households, there has never been a better time to restore the state to its proper role as a rudder for the broader economy. The market alone is simply no match for the challenges of the twenty-first century.
We Socialize Bailouts. We Should Socialize Successes, Too.
Governments have spent trillions in tough times without creating structures that turn short-term fixes into a more inclusive economy.
No More Free-Lunch Bailouts
With governments spending on a massive scale to save industries and mitigate the economic fallout from COVID-19, they should be positioning their economies for a more sustainable future.
Governments Need to ‘Radically Transform’ the Way They Think About Spending
Marina Mazzucato, founder of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, thinks businesses need a green roadmap.
Are we heading into another Depression?
Without a global recovery plan, demand will stagnate and inequality will increase
The Big Failure of Small Government
It is no coincidence that countries with mission-driven governments have fared better in the COVID-19 crisis than have countries beholden to the cult of efficiency. Effective governance, it turns out, cannot be conjured up at will, because it requires investment in state capacity.
Top economists warn the UK not to repeat austerity after the Covid-19 crisis
Mariana Mazzucato and others on why the UK must not impose spending cuts in response to higher debt.
Notes from Lockdown
With people across the world spending far more time at home than usual, many are struggling to find ways both to stay occupied and to relieve stress. We asked some of our contributors where and how they are finding motivation, inspiration, or solace during this strange and uncertain time.
How to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine for All
Strong health systems, adequate testing capacity, and an effective, universally available vaccine will be key to protecting societies from COVID-19. But ensuring that no one is left behind requires not just unprecedented collective investment, but also a very different approach to innovation.
Capitalism’s Triple Crisis
After the 2008 financial crisis, we learned the hard way what happens when governments flood the economy with unconditional liquidity, rather than laying the foundation for a sustainable and inclusive recovery. Now that an even more severe crisis is underway, we must not repeat the same mistake.
Drug Companies Will Make a Killing From Coronavirus
Unless we fix the system, American taxpayers will get gouged on a vaccine they paid to produce.
The Covid-19 crisis is a chance to do capitalism differently
Government has the upper hand for the first time in a generation. It must seize the moment.
Labour’s manifesto: economic experts’ verdict on its radical vision
Economic experts on the pros and cons of the party’s ambitious policy programme
Labour knew austerity was wrong. Now, at last, it also has a vision for growth
We need to move away from ‘shovel-ready’ projects and think about ‘green transition’ projects
Mobilizing for a Climate Moonshot
“Governments can accomplish remarkable things when they have not been hollowed out in the name of misguided “free-market” ideology. Now that humankind is confronting the existential challenge of climate change, our survival depends on reclaiming the public spirit of the Apollo program – and the hope it inspired.”
Preventing Digital Feudalism
“By exploiting technologies that were originally developed by the public sector, digital platform companies have acquired a market position that allows them to extract massive rents from consumers and workers alike. Reforming the digital economy so that it serves collective ends is thus the defining economic challenge of our time.”
The UK’s failing economic model demands such bold ideas
“Since 2008 the UK economy has again been failing, with today’s political crisis one of the consequences. This is precisely the time when bold ideas are needed from all political parties.”
Mazzucato: “O programa de dinheiro barato do BCE é um fracasso”
“Em entrevista, Mariana Mazzucato, da University College London, aprova Lagarde para o BCE, mas acha Ursula von der Leyen uma “escolha deprimente”.” Luís Reis Ribeiro
The Green New Deal Has Already Won
“As I wrote in February, this suite of approaches—often called industrial policy, though Warren brands it as “economic development”—has roots in the ideas of Alexander Hamilton. It’s also clearly inspired by the same economic thinker, Mariana Mazzucato, who has consulted with Ocasio-Cortez and her allies about the Green New Deal.” Robinson Meyer
Spring Statement offers little to fix Britain’s homegrown problems
Country’s future depends on whether Brexit solves or exacerbates its weaknesses
La luna dello stato padrone
“In Italia, periodicamente, si torna a dibatter sulla presenza dello Stato nell’economia, con la consueta preconcetta dicotomia fra quelli che sostengono i benefici della liberalizzazione e quelli che si battono per le nazionalizzazioni”.
Chi manipola la verità è la vera élite
Mazzucato’s letter from the first page of Italian newspaper La Repubblica
Democracy Journal - Yes, Government Creates Wealth
“Economics has never accepted the idea that the public sector creates wealth. But it does—and acknowledging that can lead to sweeping change.”
Who Really Creates Value in an Economy?
“Ten years after the global economic crisis, profits have recovered, but investment remains weak. Ultimately, the reason is that economic policy continues to be informed by neoliberal ideology and its academic cousin, “public choice” theory, rather than by historical experience.”
The best books about the financial market
“From a novel by Jonathan Franzen to insights into the 2008 financial crash – five books to help us understand how political forces shape the markets”
Let’s make private data into a public good
“The internet giants depend on our data. A new relationship between us and them could deliver real value to society.”
La idea de misión
“Tenemos la oportunidad de orientar la innovación hacia la solución de problemas concretos, en proyectos tan audaces como la misión de llegar a la Luna, pero dirigidos a resolver nuestros retos sociales y tecnológicos”
It’s a magic number
“By losing our ability to recognize the difference between value creation and value extraction, we have made it easier for some to call themselves value creators and in the process extract value.” pdf version
Capitalism’s greatest weakness? It confuses price with value
“Only with a clear debate about value can rent-extracting activities in every sector, including the public one, be better identified and deprived of political and ideological strength.”
Has economics failed?
“My suggestion is that before we add happiness indicators, we first take out rents. This would cause the GDP of some countries to drop drastically and for new questions to be asked about the “direction” of growth, not only its rate.”
Rediscovering Public Wealth Creation
Mariana Mazzucato argues that the wealth-creating role of the state is often forgotten, and the lessons cross political divides.
We all want economic growth; the real question is what type?
“What we need is a more dynamic conversation about the direction in which both public and private sectors can act with vision to co-invest in the challenges of the future, share both risks and rewards, and in so doing co-create new markets for the economy of tomorrow.”
After Irma, let those who use our tax havens contribute to the repairs
The Caribbean poor might have been devastated by disaster, but their islands also host huge global wealth.
Trump’s infrastructure plan is pillar of his agenda
Shovel-ready infrastructure is not the solution Mazzucato writes.
Breaking with Capitalist Orthodoxy
“We need to better understand how modern capitalism works—and why, in key ways, it now doesn’t.” Michael Jacobs and Mariana Mazzucato
Italy’s future growth hinges on new ways of doing business
“Increasing investment is essential to Italy’s future, as is fundamentally changing public-private relationships to make them less focused on favours and subsidies, and more on transformational opportunities.”
A state splash on science could bring fortune to Brexit Britain
The government is to invest billions more in UK research and development to grow the post-Brexit economy. Is it mission possible, asks Mariana Mazzucato
Fair vaccine pricing please, not random acts of charity
“The right price for vaccines must take into account the value of their collective creation but also the fact that they are essential goods produced collectively to safeguard the vulnerable—no matter where they live.” Mariana Mazzucato & Els Torreele PDF
Il capitalismo secondo Donald
“Le imprese di Trump rappresentano il simbolo dell’economia malata che il tycoon attaccava durante la campagna elettorale” PDF
He’s right the economy is sick – businesses like Trump’s are part of the disease
“It is the actions of US businesses, like his own, that lie behind the failure of the economy to deliver rising living standards for ordinary Americans. They have made money by extracting value, not creating it.”
An Entrepreneurial Society Needs an Entrepreneurial State
“Innovation-led growth can square a circle that is challenging modern capitalism: how to generate sustained and sustainable economic growth, built on high-value, well-paying jobs. This is at the core of entrepreneurial societies, and it is a good objective. The problem is how to get there.”
New Times: why it’s time for progressives to rethink capitalism
“The time is ripe for progressives to make their case with confidence and to rethink capitalism. Narratives about wealth creation must become more collective, as should the distribution of the rewards which result. The public realm matters to wealth creation, just as it matters to building a stronger and more just society.” In German
A real industrial revolution
“If Theresa May is serious about industrial strategy, she must begin a fundamental shift in how economic growth is understood, and fostered. Growth has a direction as well as a rate, and the aim of industrial-innovation policy must be to set that direction.”
Cinque medicine per curare la malattia delle banche
“I travagli che da diversi anni scuotono il sistema finanziario italiano offrono spunti di riflessione sul ruolo che la finanza potrebbe e dovrebbe avere in un ecosistema economico dinamico ed efficiente” PDF English version
High cost of new drugs
Why government must negotiate a better deal for publicly funded research. PDF Online, Henk Out Reply, Mazzucato Torreele Response
A strong industrial strategy has many benefits
The argument should be about the best way the state can help drive growth, writes Mariana Mazzucato. PDF
If Theresa May is serious about inequality she’ll ditch Osbornomics
Mazzucato and Jacobs on why we need to Rethink Capitalism. PDF
Austerity, not EU, is cause of UK economic woes
“Austerity – which has affected the living standards of many working people – was not imposed by the EU, but was a choice by the current government.”
A State-Powered Green Revolution
“How many billionaires does it take to change a battery? The answer, it turns out, is zero.” Professor Mazzucato writes for Project Syndicate on why public agency ARPA-E has beaten the private sector to a key breakthrough in battery technology.
PUBBLICO E PRIVATO UNITI NELLA LOTTA
“Le fasi in cui si sostiene il ruolo dello Stato nello sviluppo economico sono sempre seguite da un attacco contro il suo intervento nel buon funzionamento dei mercati.”
Toward a Green New Deal
Mazzucato on how public and private sectors must forge a Green New Deal
Osborne isn’t fixing the roof, he’s eroding the foundations.
Prof. Mazzucato writes for the Guardian following the 2015 Spending Review.
Too little, too late if we are to emulate Germany and China’s ambitions
Professor Mazzucato’s article about UK Chancellor George Osborne’s speech.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Necessary Agenda
Seven economists (including Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Piketty, and me) have agreed to become economic advisers to Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the British Labour Party. I hope we will have a shared goal to help Labour shape an economic policy that is investment-led, inclusive, and sustainable.
Chine: les vraies questions à se poser
“Devons-nous nous inquiéter de ce qui se passe en Chine? La croissance de la principale économie émergente est-elle en panne ? Ou bien le récent ralentissement économique et la dévaluation de la monnaie ne sont-ils que de simples remous?” This article was first published on the front page of La Repubblica on August 21, 2015. English version
Se l’ultima rivoluzione cinese fa tremare l’economia globale
by Mariana Mazzucato
“Pechino ha bisogno di minore rigidità e di decentramento ma anche la Ue deve reagire in maniera flessibile e dinamica per evitare la catastrofe.”
The Market-Creating State
Professor Mazzucato contributed to the RSA Journal with an article on The Market-Creating State. PDF
THE FISCAL DISCIPLINE METED OUT TO ATHENS WILL NOT LEAD TO GROWTH
Prof. Mazzucato argues that a strategy of reforms without investment is doomed to fail.
Solo lo spirito del Dopoguerra potrà salvarci dalla crisi eterna
“L’emergenza ellenica riguarda tutta l’economia, dai dati “macro” alle singole imprese. Ma l’ipocrisia tedesca e il rigore “copia e incolla” non servono: bisogna agire come la Germania post-1945. L’austerità non aiuta, come sapeva bene Keynes, però ai greci si chiedono tagli su tagli” PDF English version
O custo do custo-benefício
“O Brasil deveria definir os vetores das políticas públicas e das ações privadas a longo prazo, em vez de priorizar os “benefícios” da austeridade” Mariana Mazzucato, Caetano Penna PDF
Greek bailout extension refused: this cannot be fixed by cuts and more cuts.
Professor Mazzucato argues that Greece should not do what Germany says it does (austerity), but what Germany actually does (invest).
La ricchezza giusta per la sinistra
“Una teoria sulle ragioni della sconfitta del Partito laburista alle elezioni britanniche comincia a prendere piede. Ma è una teoria sbagliata. Per quelli che basano le loro previsioni sui sondaggi, il risultato è stato una sorpresa.”
A new wealth-creating agenda for the Labour Party
Professor Mazzucato argues that, in its search for a new leader, the Labour party also needs a new story about innovation, the economy and wealth creation.
Grecia, l’inutile compromesso
“Il braccio di ferro tra Atene e i creditori internazionali sembra avviarsi verso l’ennesimo compromesso e già riecheggia il coro dei falsi ottimisti: meglio un compromesso di un default. E invece proprio questo è il momento di dirlo chiaro e forte: si profila un accordo che rischia di non risolvere nulla.” English version
Reiz Des Wechselspiels
“Mariana Mazzucato macht einen Vorschlag, wie Staat und Unternehmen zusammenarbeiten können.”
The Creative State
The conventional view in mainstream economics today is that governments have little capacity to spark innovation. The state should play as limited a role in the economy as possible, the thinking goes, intervening only in cases of “market failure.” This is far from the truth.
Lær av andres feil
“Norge etter oljen: Norske myndigheter er opptatt av å øke konkurranseevnen og produktiviteten. Men ifølge innovasjonsøkonom Mariana Mazzucato er det noen alvorlige spørsmål knyttet til denne strategien – og minner om: Lær av andres feil.” Mariana Mazzucato
Europa, ascolta le parole di Atene
“Il principale problema dell’Europa, si sente spesso ripetere, è che l’unificazione monetaria non è stata accompagnata da una vera politica fiscale comunitaria. E che senza una vera “unione fiscale” sarà impossibile uscire dalla crisi. Per “unione fiscale” si intende però soprattutto la necessità di correggere le differenze tra i Paesi.” PDF English version
The Innovative State
“Governments should make markets, not just fix them” Mariana Mazzucato
L’abisso della disuguaglianza
Public risks, private rewards: how an innovative state can tackle inequality
An edited extract of Professor Mazzucato’s lecture to mark winning the New Statesman SPERI Prize in Political Economy 2014.
The Innovative State: Governments should make markets, not just fix them
Governments should make markets, not just fix them, Mazzucato writes for Foreign Affairs
New Year’s Resolution
We need to battle against inequality and financialisation in 2015 argues Mazzucato
L’Europa ha una banca, la usi per la crescita
“Per uscire dalla stagnazione attuale l’Unione non ha bisogno di istituzioni azzopate, ma di una spinta decisiva alla ripresa di lungo termine…”
Who will lead the green revolution?
Mazzucato on how the state can act as a force for innovation and change.
Juncker’s investment plan: how to radically transform it
The Eurozone needs investment, not austerity. Juncker should embrace mission-oriented public investment to shape and create markets in health, energy, climate and inclusion
Quanto Stato c’è nella Silicon Valley
Italian version part 1 and part 2 (as featured in Italian newspaper La Repubblica)
“When Renzi visited Silicon Valley last month, he did so in the name of bringing innovation, competition and dynamism to Italy. He is right to make this a key concern given that this country has had little dynamism for the last 20 years due to stagnant productivity and hence stagnant growth. “
Der Mythos vom Staat, der nur stört
by Mariana Mazzucato, Capital
“Schon lange vor der globalen Wirtschaftskrise hat unser Politiker eine Frage beschäftig: Wo ist das europäische Google? Wo sind die innovativen Unternehmer? Die, die bereit sind, hohe Risiken einzugehen?”
Perché Google non l’abbiamo inventato in Europa
Italian version (as featured in the Italian magazine “Donna”, a supplement of La Repubblica)
“A big question for the past 20 years has been: where are the European Googles? Why are all the funky, creative, dynamic, innovative companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook coming out of the US and not out of Europe?”
OLTRE IL FETICCIO DEL 3 PER CENTO
L’unica strada per competere
Caro premier, ecco cosa può fare lo Stato
Italian version (as featured in Italian newspaper La Repubblica)
“Caro presidente, ho visto dai giornali che lei ha comprato il mio libro “Lo Stato Innovatore”, questo mi ha suggerito l’idea di scriverle una lettera.”
Was der Staat kann
by Mariana Mazzucato, Le Monde Diplomatique
“Oft wird behauptet, die Nöte der ‘peripheren’ Länder der Eurozone, etwa Portugals und Italiens, seien durch einen ‘verschwenderischen’ öffentlichen Sektor verursacht. Dabei wird das Offensichtliche übersehen: dass diese Länder eher an einem stagnierenden öffentlichen Sektor leiden, der die strategischen Investitionen versäumt hat, die erfolgreichere Kernländer wie Deutschland seit Jahrzehnten tätigen.”
Smart countries are the ones creating and shaping their own markets
Mazzucato’s article for the Observer argues for a new framework to understand the role of the state in creating and shaping new markets.
EU (skewed) competitiveness: A different analysis
“So the big question is: will the different types of ‘structural reforms’ and spending cuts induce growth in the periphery, the PIIGS? My answer is that, without investment in key areas, NO they won’t.”
Pfizer’s bid for AstraZeneca shows that big pharma is as rotten as the banks
Global pharmaceutical companies are dodging the risks by loading R&D costs on to taxpayers, writes Mazzucato.
Canada falling behind on innovation
Public sector austerity and lagging private sector investment hamper Canada’s ability to be a world leader in new technologies.
Don’t knock tax – it gave us the iPhone
Entrepreneurship and smart growth are what every policymaker today wants to foster. It’s not just about startups, venture capital and “garage tinkerers”, but the willingness and ability of economic agents (public and private) to take on risk and real Knightian uncertainty to create new products and services.
Towards a fairer capitalism: let’s burst the 1% bubble
Talk of a more moral capitalism is just hot air unless we rehabilitate and reward the idea of value creation
Let’s rethink the idea of the state
Mazzucato argues that a programme of forward-thinking public spending is crucial for a prosperous society.
Debunking the Market Mechanism: Organisations, Innovation and Inequality—A Response to John Kay
Mazzucato, M. (2013), Political Quarterly, Vol 84 (4): 444–447
Serious innovation requires serious state support
Growth requires the kind of committed finance behind Silicon Valley, writes Mazzucato.
Why innovation needs the help of an active state
Productive public spending leads to growth, as illustrated by the US, writes Mariana Mazzucato.
Left magazine
“Apple. Lo Stato dentro l’iPhone”
The Guardian
“Spending review 2013: what will it mean for science and innovation?”
Public Finance International
“The myth of the ‘meddling’ state”
Apple upsets the risk reward ratio cart
Silicon Valley has surfed the wave of US Government-funded investments, writes Mazzucato
The Guardian
“Budget 2013: come on, chancellor, you can change Britain’s future”
Taxpayers Helped Apple, but Apple Won’t Help Them
“Many of the “new economy” companies that like to portray themselves as the heart of U.S. “entrepreneurship” have very successfully surfed the wave of U.S. government-funded investments.” Mariana Mazzucato
The Guardian
“UK GDP figures: panel verdict”
Innovation: let the good risk-takers get their reward
The relationship between risk and reward must change to support long term growth, Mazzucato argues.
The Guardian
“Without banking reform, investing in innovation is too great a risk”
The Guardian
“Public money spent on ‘digging ditches’ won’t stimulate the economy”
The Guardian
“Banks must learn to reward the good risks”
The Guardian
“If the Eurozone is serious about growth, it can have it”
The Guardian
“Without state spending there’d be no Google or GlaxoSmithKline”
Research Europe
“Austerity is not the answer to Europe’s economic woes”
New Statesman
“Building the Entrepreneurial State”
Explaining rising income inequality
Or, how to get paid a bonus for not doing your job
MSN News
“Will UK medicine give us a Greek cold?”
new statesman
“The state doesn’t need the private sector to be entrepreneurial”
the guardian
“How to build an ideas factory?”
the guardian
“US healthcare reform is not an act of meddling”
CIMA: Excellence in Leadership, issue 14
“Intelligent investment in innovation”
Business XL
“Economic insight”
Pharmaceutical Executive
What is needed in the pharmaceutical industry is more radical innovation, including radical thinking about the ‘innovation division of labour, writes Mazzucato.