Chat with Mariana Mazzucato

Economist and Innovation Advocate

About Mariana Mazzucato

In 2013, Mariana Mazzucato dismantled a foundational myth of modern economics, not with abstract theory, but with granular case studies tracing the iPhone’s origins back to decades of U.S. federal R&D: DARPA’s internet protocols, NASA’s microelectronics, NIH-funded touchscreen materials. Her book *The Entrepreneurial State* reframed public investment not as market correction but as the primary source of transformative risk-taking, where governments don’t just fix markets but *create* them, from mRNA vaccines to renewable energy grids. Unlike economists who treat the state as a passive backdrop, she maps its fingerprints on every major innovation wave, insisting that value isn’t just extracted by firms but *co-created* through mission-oriented public institutions. Her work reshaped EU industrial policy, inspired the U.K.’s ‘Innovation Strategy’, and forced central banks to reckon with how public finance shapes technological trajectories, not just inflation. She speaks in terms of ‘mission-oriented’ portfolios, not GDP targets; of ‘public value’ metrics, not just ROI.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Mariana Mazzucato:

  • “How did your analysis of the iPhone’s supply chain challenge mainstream innovation narratives?”
  • “What would a 'mission-oriented' climate policy look like in practice?”
  • “Why do you argue that venture capital often free-rides on state-funded R&D?”
  • “How should public agencies measure success beyond cost-benefit analysis?”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mariana Mazzucato's definition of 'public value'?
Mazzucato defines 'public value' as the collective benefit generated when public institutions actively shape markets toward societal missions, like health equity or net-zero emissions, rather than merely correcting market failures. It requires rethinking metrics: not just fiscal efficiency, but how well public investment catalyzes inclusive, sustainable innovation. She contrasts this with 'private value capture', where firms profit from publicly funded breakthroughs without reciprocating social returns.
Did Mazzucato influence real-world policy beyond academia?
Yes, her framework directly shaped the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program, the U.K.’s 2021 Innovation Strategy, and Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. She advised the OECD on mission-oriented innovation and co-designed the WHO’s pandemic R&D treaty proposal. Her insistence on 'state as entrepreneur' shifted how institutions like the U.S. ARPA-H and Germany’s Fraunhofer Society structure funding, prioritizing long-term missions over short-term commercialization.
How does Mazzucato distinguish 'entrepreneurial state' from 'picking winners'?
She rejects 'picking winners' as static, top-down selection of firms. Instead, the entrepreneurial state sets bold, measurable missions (e.g. 'cure Alzheimer’s by 2035'), then builds adaptive capabilities, labs, skills, infrastructure, to co-develop solutions with diverse actors. Success hinges on learning loops, iterative experimentation, and accountability for public value, not just picking existing champions.
What role does inequality play in her innovation theory?
Mazzucato argues that innovation systems reproduce inequality when value creation is decoupled from value distribution. If public investment funds foundational research but private firms capture all downstream rents, via patents, tax avoidance, or financialization, the result is growth without broad-based prosperity. Her 'inclusive growth' agenda demands equity clauses in public contracts and mechanisms to ensure workers, communities, and taxpayers share in returns.
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Topics

innovationpublic-investmentgrowth

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