I am a Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), and Founder/Director of UCL's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. My work is focused on the relationship between innovation and the direction of growth, with emphasis on rethinking the public sector’s role to ensure growth is more innovation-led, inclusive and sustainable. I work with global leaders on ‘mission oriented’ policies, which can steer solutions towards grand challenges from the battle against climate warming to building resilient health systems. My 2013 book, The Entrepreneurial State: debunking public vs. private sector myths, looks at the ‘investor of first resort’ role that the State has played in the history of technological change — from the Internet to biotech— and the lessons for a Green New Deal. In 2016 I co-edited the book Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth focussed on new economic thinking to drive more effective economic policies. My 2018 book, The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economy, brings the debate about value back to the heart of economics, so to ensure we are rewarding value creation over value extraction and destruction.
