Governments Need to ‘Radically Transform’ the Way They Think About Spending
Marina Mazzucato, founder of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, thinks businesses need a green roadmap.
Mariana Mazzucato on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21, 2020.
Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
There is no silver bullet policy to take on the twin crises of Covid-19 and the climate emergency. Governments have the upper hand on private industry for the first time in a generation, which means they can intervene with a portfolio of policies, not only for stimulating the economy but also for radically transforming it.
We cannot return to an austerity-based approach to public spending, which looks at how much money is available—determined by faulty conceptions of public budgets—and then at how thinly it needs to be spread. Economic growth in a green direction brings jobs, improves living standards, and builds the vital resilience we will need to take on the impending climate emergency.