Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

Economist Mazzucato (The Value of Everything) calls for a “massive rethink” of capitalism and the relationship between the public and private sectors in this stimulating yet wonky guide. She contends that wealth inequality, inadequate health care, the “rising tide of populism,” and other social ills are the byproducts of forces that have warped capitalism, including the prioritization of shareholder profits over long-term investments and the belief that governments can only fix market failures, instead of playing an active role in shaping the economy. Mazzucato sketches the history of the U.S. space program in the 1960s as a model for the “boldness and experimentation” necessary to solve the climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, and refutes arguments that the private sector is inherently better at spurring innovation than the public sector. She notes, for example, that an Obama administration loan was crucial to the success of Tesla, and that a 1980s BBC computer literacy program led to the founding of a leading software development firm and the creation of a low-cost computer used in classrooms around the world. Mazzucato’s line of argument occasionally gets lost in a blizzard of buzzwords, but she unearths a plethora of intriguing case studies to back up her claims. Policy makers will want to take note. (Mar.)