Makers and Takers in the Global Economy
Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
English language
Who really creates wealth in our world? And how do we decide the value of what they do? At the heart of today's financial and economic crisis is a problem hiding in plain sight.
In modern capitalism, value extraction is rewarded more highly than value creation: the productive process that drives a healthy economy and society. From companies driven solely to maximise shareholder value to astronomically high prices of medicines justified through big pharma's 'value pricing', we misidentify taking with making and have lost sight of what value really means. Once a central plank of economic thought, this concept of value - what it is, why it matters to us - is simply no longer discussed.
Yet, argues Mariana Mazzucato in this penetrating and passionate new book, if we are to reform capitalism - radically to transform an increasingly sick system rather than continue feeding it - we urgently need …
Who really creates wealth in our world? And how do we decide the value of what they do? At the heart of today's financial and economic crisis is a problem hiding in plain sight.
In modern capitalism, value extraction is rewarded more highly than value creation: the productive process that drives a healthy economy and society. From companies driven solely to maximise shareholder value to astronomically high prices of medicines justified through big pharma's 'value pricing', we misidentify taking with making and have lost sight of what value really means. Once a central plank of economic thought, this concept of value - what it is, why it matters to us - is simply no longer discussed.
Yet, argues Mariana Mazzucato in this penetrating and passionate new book, if we are to reform capitalism - radically to transform an increasingly sick system rather than continue feeding it - we urgently need to rethink where wealth comes from. Which activities create it, which extract it, which destroy it? Answers to these questions are key if we want to replace the current parasitic system with a type of capitalism that is more sustainable, more symbiotic - that works for us all. The Value of Everything will reignite a long-needed debate about the kind of world we really want to live in.
Argues that governments are co-creators of wealth and essential for a dynamic & innovative economy (duh? But neoliberals ...). Finance is a rent-seeking leech. Growth should be purposeful & hopeful! Full of sense but not engaging.
Reading time 13 days, 22 pages/day
Mariana Mazzucato is both direct and adventurous in her writing on economics. The Value of Everything presents a meticulously researched history of the concept of value over the past 400 years in western society, using this history to show how value creation and value extraction have been confused in recent decades. Her presentation is an argument on social theory - she wants to spark debate about whether in broader terms western ideology has created a myth out of the importance of the private sector and venture capital in creating jobs and opportunities for people. This, in turn, leads to a suggestion that state spending and investment is underrated and not adequately included in calculations of GDP, making it seem that private companies create all value in an economy, and the state (despite spending on infrastructure and providing finance for research) does not create any value.
In the end, the argument …
Mariana Mazzucato is both direct and adventurous in her writing on economics. The Value of Everything presents a meticulously researched history of the concept of value over the past 400 years in western society, using this history to show how value creation and value extraction have been confused in recent decades. Her presentation is an argument on social theory - she wants to spark debate about whether in broader terms western ideology has created a myth out of the importance of the private sector and venture capital in creating jobs and opportunities for people. This, in turn, leads to a suggestion that state spending and investment is underrated and not adequately included in calculations of GDP, making it seem that private companies create all value in an economy, and the state (despite spending on infrastructure and providing finance for research) does not create any value.
In the end, the argument has extraordinary merit, and she concludes with suggestions on how states can rethink their own role in value, and how the public can also do this. This is an optimistic, challenging and brilliant book by an economist who does not accept the status quo.
