Mariana Mazzucato: Why is there always money for war but never for public investment?
6/1/202639 min
Economic growth is at the centre of British politics once again. Tony Blair says Labour needs a new plan. Keir Starmer, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham are all setting out competing visions for the country's future. But after years of promises about prosperity, innovation and renewal, why do so many people feel the economy is no longer working for them?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Jackie Long speaks to economist Professor Mariana Mazzucato, whose ideas helped shape Labour’s original pitch for power and whose new book, The Common Good Economy, argues that governments have lost sight of what the economy is actually for.
They discuss whether markets should serve society rather than the other way around, who gets to define the “common good”, and whether mission-driven government can survive in an era of political instability, nationalism, trade wars and rapid technological change. They also explore Labour’s record in government so far, Tony Blair’s intervention in the party’s future, the debate over net zero and growth, and whether AI could transform the economy as profoundly as the industrial revolution.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMariana Mazzucato· Guest0:00
What does it mean for a progressive government to allow everyone to flourish, invest in their ability to be creative? That's a common good economy I mean, obviously the criticism will be that this is some utopian ideal, uh, not made for right now, this very polar- polarized, very divided society During war, no one says there's no money because they know that the money can be created. Had we invested the average of OECD countries, we would've invested 500 billion, billion pounds more in the last two decades. I do think that it is a crime, [laughs] and I'll use that very strong word, what both Farage and Boris Johnson did, which was to lie and lie again, and are still have not been held accountable.
Jackie Long· Host0:40
Hello, and welcome to The Forecast. Economic growth is at the top of the political agenda. Tony Blair says labor needs a new plan to fix the economy, where Streeting, Andy Burnham, and Keir Starmer have all been setting out their own visions for Britain's future. But after years of promises about prosperity, innovation, and economic renewal, why do so many people feel the economy is no longer working for them? And if governments are serious about fixing stagnation, inequality, and declining trust, have we lost sight of what the economy is meant to achieve in the first place? Professor Mariana Mazzucato is one of the world's most influential economists. Her ideas helped shape Labor's original pitch for power, and in her new book, The Common Good Economy, she argues that both