Government partnership with big business created the internet and cell phones – an economist says it can deliver a new generation of innovations, too

Government partnership with big business created the internet and cell phones – an economist says it can deliver a new generation of innovations, too

When you trim away all the complications and high-minded theories, the single mission statement of an economy under capitalism is to grow. We say an economy is healthy when it's adding jobs, productivity, and profits, and we say an economy is sick when it's contracting, losing jobs, and failing to hit profitability markers. But shouldn't we expect more than aimless growth from an economy? Shouldn't our economy reward growth in sectors that would benefit everyone — environmental science, say — and discourage growth in sectors that harm the public good, such as the privatization of our water supply? Government is supposed to be a counterweight on the economy's untapped growth. Regulations, tax credits, and other incentives are supposed to encourage beneficial growth and discourage the harm produced by unfettered capitalism. But , the government has largely abdicated itself from the regulatory role, giving companies free license to blindly pursue growth for growth's sake. In ," economics professor Mariana Mazzucato discusses her new book " ." Her goal with the book is, in the words of co-host David Goldstein, to encourage a new kind of economics that values "outcomes as opposed to just output." "For some years now, I've been working