Add to my list

MARIANA MAZZUCATO

One of Top 5 Major Economists according to Forbes, is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL)

Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). Her previous posts include the RM Phillips Professorial Chair at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University.

She is the winner of international prizes including the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2021, Italy’s highest civilian honor, the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Most recently, Pope Francis appointed her to the Pontifical Academy for Life for bringing ‘more humanity’ to the world.

She is the author of The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, and The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps Our Economies.

Mariana advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth. Her roles have included for example Chair of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health for All, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Co-Chair on the Council on Urban Initiatives, and a member of the South African President’s Economic Advisory Council. Previously, through her role as Special Advisor for the EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2017-2019), she authored the high-impact report on Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation in the European Union, turning “missions” into a crucial new instrument in the European Commission’s Horizon innovation program, and more recently, authored a report with the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A mission-oriented approach.

Professor Mazzucato tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below:

Economics and Finance
Innovation
Business
Strategy
Geopolitics
ESG

Directing Finance

Finance is not neutral: the structure and type of public finance affects what happens in the real economy. Providing patient and long-term finance to willing organizations can help steer an economy toward meeting its challenges. How can we shape and direct finance in a more outcomes-oriented way to ensure that the resulting structural change is inclusive and sustainable? Which financial institutions are needed to direct public finance towards societal goals?

Rethinking Value

Value creation is assumed to occur in business and only facilitated by public and other actors. This premise builds on false assumptions. Value is created collectively, including by direct investments of state-led institutions. If value is created collectively, how can it also be shared more equally? How can collective value become central to how the government interacts with business and civil society?

Shaping Innovation

The state plays a key role in driving innovation- and investment-led growth. It is critical to consider how scientific and technological advances can be steered to tackle societal challenges. How can innovation be stimulated and governed with public value at its core? What are the ways in which industrial strategy can help pick ambitious objectives and coordinate a holistic response with willing actors?

Transforming Institutions

Capable institutions are a crucial pre-requisite for achieving ambitious goals in key policy areas. It is critical to have coordination among public institutions – going beyond a narrow intra-departmental logic. How can public purpose-driven and dynamic institutions be created? What does building the necessary internal competencies entail?