My Republica

Mariana Mazzucato and Giulio Quaggiotto

Mariana Mazzucato, Professor of Economics of Innovation and Public Value and Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, is the author of “The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy.” Follow her on Twitter: @MazzucatoM. Giulio Quaggiotto, a former head of the Regional Innovation Center in the Asia Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme, works at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Government Innovation.
news@myrepublica.com

Big failure of small government

Published On: May 20, 2020 03:00 PM NPT By: Mariana Mazzucato and Giulio Quaggiotto

LONDON – Decades of privatization, outsourcing, and budget cuts in the name of “efficiency” have significantly hampered many governments’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, successful responses by other governments have shown that investments in core public-sector capabilities make all the difference in times of emergency. The countries that have handled the crisis well are those where the state maintains a productive relationship with value creators in society, by investing in critical capacities and designing private-sector contracts to serve the public interest.