
In Germany, the fundamental idea of mission-oriented thinking and policies is increasingly met with openness: The Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) has recently advised the German Federal Government to adopt mission-oriented thinking as a new policy approach for research & innovation in view of major societal challenges. We simply can no longer afford not to.We are therefore delighted that Mariana has accepted to present the main ideas of “Mission Economy” and discuss its practical relevance for Germany with Wolfgang Schmidt, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance Earlier this year, SPD candidate for chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz started the electoral campaign with a commitment to a mission-oriented economic policy. We can do it again to fix our problems and improve the lives of every one of us. That means changing government tools and culture, creating new markers of corporate governance, and ensuring that corporations, society, and the government coalesce to share a common goal. We can only begin to find answers if we fundamentally restructure capitalism to make it inclusive, sustainable, and driven by innovation that tackles concrete problems from the digital divide, to health pandemics, to our polluted cities. Mariana Mazzucato argues we need to think bigger and mobilize our resources in a way that is as bold as inspirational as the moon landing-this time to the most 'wicked' social problems of our time. Global warming, pollution, dementia, obesity, gun violence, mobility-these environmental, health, and social dilemmas are huge, complex, and have no simple solutions. Mission Economy looks at the grand challenges facing us in a radically new way. But how do we fix these problems decades in the making? We are plagued by crises threatening our lives, and this situation is unsustainable. The rich have gotten richer-the 1 percent, those with more than $1 million, own 44 percent of the world's wealth-while climate change is transforming-and in some cases wiping out-life on the planet. "She offers something both broad and scarce: a compelling new story about how to create a desirable future."-New York TimesĪn award-winning author and leading international economist delivers a hard-hitting and much needed critique of modern capitalism in which she argues that, to solve the massive crises facing us, we must be innovative-we must use collaborative, mission-oriented thinking while also bringing a stakeholder view of public private partnerships which means not only taking risks together but also sharing the rewards.Ĭapitalism is in crisis.
