The Value of Everything Making and Taking in the Global Economy

Professor of Innovation Economics and Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, she advises various bodies on smart and sustainable growth. She has received several awards for her contributions to expanding the frontiers of economic thinking.

While we are more likely to hear from the media about the hype or scandal of a company or individual, Mazzucato opens up thinking to an informed, transparent balance about which institutions make essential contributions to functioning societal partnerships in terms of a "mutual ecosystem" vs. a "parasitic predator-prey system.

She addresses key questions about production, distribution, and reinvestment to define economic value, understanding value creation as "the way in which different resources (human, tangible, and intangible) are made available to interact to produce new goods and services."

Mariana Mazzucato informatively describes the interplay between the state and the economy, which has been redefined and valued differently over time, each time leading to significant changes in which services are rewarded and which are marginalized  in society.

One of her core questions is what direction the economy can take to benefit the greatest number of people. With constructive, highly stimulating criticism, Mazzucato illuminates the definition of value through economic history, reflects on approaches to the wealth of nations, analyzes value (ab)creation in the financial sector, the value (ab)creation of the innovation economy, the undervalued public sector. Her real-world examples (e.g., Haywood, BHS, Apple) illustrate the interconnections and provide a better understanding of ggs. interdependencies.

The myopic expectation of 'directionless' policies that only remove obstacles leads to an economy that sidelines many areas relevant to life (keywords care, environmental protection, health, peace) and to a definition of value that expresses itself only through cash and otherwise fuels anti-life consequences in many facets. We interpret Mazzucato's work as encouraging more systemic entrepreneurial thinking in society and thus future-proofing companies, as well as inspiring satisfying leadership.

For leaders, a recommended read that places one's own actions in societal context and challenges one's own leadership mindset via the purpose question for the company.

At Tripl3Leader, we define leadership as True Leadership when value is created, not siphoned off, through attitude and action. We offer leadership development workshops, seminars and coaching.