Mariana Mazzucato (Author)
Mariana Mazzucato 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. 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 honour, the 2020 John von Neumann Award,
the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Stael 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.
As well as The Entrepreneurial State, she is the author of The
Value of Everything- Making and Taking in the Global Economy
(2018), Mission Economy- A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism
(2021), and The Big Con- How the Consulting Industry Weakens our
Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies
(2023).
She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led,
inclusive and sustainable growth. Her current 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 of the Council on Urban
Initiatives, and 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 programme, 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.
Rosie Collington (Author)
Rosie Collington is a PhD candidate at the UCL Institute for
Innovation and Public Purpose, where she researches the political
economy of outsourcing. She has written on consulting and other
subjects for publications including the Guardian, OpenDemocracy and
the Independent.
a forceful demolition job on the industry
*Bloomberg*
timely ... the analysis is startling
*Sunday Times*
Collington and Mazzucato have provided a meticulously researched
anatomy of an industry not widely understood by those outside it.
They have explained complex ideas and processes in clear terms, and
brought them to life with a rich and engaging narrative style. They
have eschewed a simple narrow moral attack on a few parasitic firms
in favor of a clear-eyed view of the industry's origins and
drivers, and they have outlined the stakes for the future in no
uncertain terms. That last is the most important. The Big Con may
present itself as an exposé of the consulting industry, but behind
it lies a bigger and more urgent warning to reshape social
priorities in an age of crisis.
*Jacobin*
Their point is that the great problem with the consulting business
isn't so much one of corruption, but something else: consultants
have wielded their expertise to give the impression of being
indispensable. ... The book is intended in part as a rallying call
for these companies and governments
*The Times*
compelling ... Mazzucato and Collington examine how this
astonishing global rise in consultancy services came about. The
clue is in the book's name-the big con ... the confidence trick
arises from the ability to create an impression of value. ...
Mazzucato and Collington are ready with what needs to be done: a
new vision for the civil service; invest in internal government
capacity and capability creation; embed learning and evaluation
into contracts; and mandate transparency and exposure of
conflicting interest.
*The Lancet*
As the title of this book implies, consulting is, at least in part,
a confidence trick. A consultant's job is to convince anxious
customers that they have the answers, whether or not that's
true.
*Guardian*
powerful ... The authors provide countless convincing examples of
the danger of public overreliance on the consulting industry ...
The Big Con puts forward a forceful argument about an issue about
which most ordinary people know little but - given the enormous
influence of the consulting industry - have a right to understand
and scrutinise. An effective, important and highly readable
book.
*E&T Magazine*
The Big Con of the book's title is not a crime; it's a confidence
trick. Consultancies and outsourcers, Mazzucato argues, know less
than they claim, cost more than they seem to, and - over the long
term - prevent the public sector developing in-house
capabilities
*Financial Times*
We are effectively devolving decision-making to people who are
doubly unelected in many cases and whose own interests may diverge
fairly dramatically from the collective interest or the interest
that government is supposed to be pursuing.
*The Spectator*
Any government looking to rediscover its "vision, purpose and
narrative" already knows who to call
*American Prospect*
The consultants may have different names ...and might perform
different economic functions...but the effect they have on their
client organisations is the same: to entrench short-term thinking,
to deplete them of knowledge and skills, and, ultimately, to
enfeeble them.
*New Statesman*
The power of government is crucial for driving the economy forward.
But only if it retains capacity. Mazzucato and Collington have
written a brilliant book that exposes the dangerous consequences of
outsourcing state capacity to the consulting industry-and how to
build it back. A fascinating look at the biggest players in the
game and why this matters for all of us.
*Stephanie Kelton, author of THE DEFICIT MYTH*
A powerful indictment of a dubious industry. This book should be
read around the globe, and kickstart a debate that's long overdue:
Do we really need all those consultants?
*Rutger Bregman, author of UTOPIA FOR REALISTS and HUMANKIND*
The Big Con documents, in precise detail and with panoramic vision,
all the ways that the consulting industry has insinuated itself
into the systems that govern and control our lives. Private
companies, public charities and trusts, states, and even the
international order have all handed mission-critical functions over
to management consultants. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington
document the harms that result, as consultants exploit the public
while stripping their clients of expertise and even the capacity to
learn. This bill of particulars serves a profound master purpose:
to demonstrate that we cannot outsource governance over our lives
and still hope to remain prosperous, democratic, and free.
*Daniel Markovits, author of THE MERITOCRACY TRAP*
A management consultant,' the quip runs, 'is someone who borrows
your watch to tell you the time-and then keeps the watch.' This is
the very least of the confidence tricks perpetrated by the global
consulting industry it turns out. Another common saying is that
'nobody ever got fired for hiring McKinsey.' With the publication
of The Big Con, they just might.
*Brett Christophers, author of RENTIER CAPITALISM*
Doggedly researched and elegantly written, this is a fascinating
entry point into a critical yet underreported issue
*Publishers Weekly*
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