‘Make people dream’: how to build an economy for the common good

G ood governments have a vision. They know what they want to achieve, can articulate why, and work out in public how to get there. They don’t just spout slogans about economic growth – because growth is meaningless unless we know what it is for. They understand that there is no trade-off between solving social problems and boosting the economy, and aim to do both, while avoiding rigid fiscal rules that defeat their own purpose by strangling public investment. If this sounds like a critique of what went wrong with Keir Starmer’s government , it is also a lot more. Mariana Mazzucato, a professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, is a world-renowned economist, adviser to governments, chair of international commissions, prolific author and PhD supervisor to at least one poet. She was the thinker who inspired Starmer to fashion his political project around five key “missions” , now largely forgotten in the mire of scandals, U-turns and infighting that beset his premiership. Her judgment on Labour , and its lack of obvious direction, is withering. “Fine, come in, say the Tories were shit, but once you’ve said it, move on!” she cries, from the sunny garden of her north London home. “You’ve got five years, so what’s your plan? What’s the positive narrative? It was always half baked … [now] it’s half assed.” But while Mazzucato is horrified at what Starmer’s government has become, her aim is global. …