Mission Economy audiobook cover - A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

Mission Economy

A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

Mariana Mazzucato

★ 4.0 / 5(214 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
PoliticsEconomics

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Mission Economy — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Mission Economy

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Mission Economy

Mind Map

Mission Economy
The Mission Concept+
Flaws in Current Capitalism+
Lessons from Apollo 11+
Modern Earth-Bound Missions+
Rethinking Public Value+
Fairness and Collective Effort+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
Why does the author use the 1969 Apollo moon mission as a model for modern problem-solving?
  • A. It was the most cost-effective government project in history.
  • B. It demonstrated how a singular, well-funded mission can drive massive innovation and spillover effects.
  • C. It proved that the private sector is better at leading large-scale technological advancements than the government.
  • D. It showed that governments should focus exclusively on space exploration rather than terrestrial issues.
Question 2 of 7
According to the text, what is a major flaw in the current financial and business sector?
  • A. It provides too many loans to risky, unproven manufacturing startups.
  • B. It is over-regulated by the government, which stifles market innovation.
  • C. It suffers from 'financialization,' where finance primarily funds itself and prioritizes shareholder value over societal good.
  • D. It completely ignores the real estate market in favor of speculative tech investments.
Question 3 of 7
How does the author challenge the modern economic orthodoxy regarding the role of government?
  • A. By arguing that governments should only intervene to fix problems the free market cannot solve.
  • B. By pointing out that governments actually take massive creative risks, such as funding Tesla's early growth.
  • C. By suggesting governments should run more like private businesses and prioritize budgetary concerns.
  • D. By proving that outsourcing government work to private firms is universally cheaper and more efficient.
Question 4 of 7
What characterized the Apollo mission's approach to budgeting and outsourcing?
  • A. It used an outcomes-based approach, committing to spend whatever was necessary and outsourcing to the best companies, not the cheapest.
  • B. It relied entirely on in-house government engineers to avoid the high costs of private sector contracts.
  • C. It strictly adhered to a pre-determined budget, canceling any experimental projects that threatened to exceed it.
  • D. It outsourced every component to the lowest bidder to ensure the mission remained economically viable.
Question 5 of 7
How should modern environmental missions, like the Green New Deal, differ from the Apollo mission?
  • A. They must rely entirely on private funding rather than government creation of money.
  • B. They should focus solely on technological advancements rather than social outcomes.
  • C. They must adopt a more participatory, bottom-up approach to include citizens' voices, rather than being strictly top-down.
  • D. They should avoid cross-sector collaboration to keep the mission streamlined and focused.
Question 6 of 7
What is the author's view on national budgets and public finance?
  • A. National budgets should be managed exactly like a household budget to avoid crippling debt.
  • B. Governments can create their own money and invest it productively in society, meaning rising debt isn't inherently dangerous.
  • C. Central banks should stop making new money available for governments to spend on infrastructure.
  • D. Public health grants and social security must be cut to balance the national deficit.
Question 7 of 7
How does the author suggest society should address modern economic inequality?
  • A. Through a focus on 'predistribution,' ensuring economic rewards are fairly shared from the start, rather than just using redistribution.
  • B. By eliminating trade unions to allow companies to grow their profits more rapidly.
  • C. By exclusively relying on post-crisis redistribution, such as stimulus checks during emergencies.
  • D. By ensuring that businesses maintain their primary focus on maximizing shareholder value above all else.

Mission Economy — Full Chapter Overview

Mission Economy Summary & Overview

Mission Economy (2021) explains how we can rethink our approaches toward government and capitalism through the concept of missions – huge, ambitious projects that inspire people across society to think big. These blinks show how we can change the world by taking inspiration from one of the most famous missions of all: the moon landing.

Who Should Listen to Mission Economy?

  • Visionary thinkers who want to transform society
  • Economists and politics fans in search of bold new ideas
  • Critics of capitalism who want to see change

About the Author: Mariana Mazzucato

Mariana Mazzucato is an economics professor at University College London, and founding director of the university’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She has won awards including the John Von Neumann Award in 2020 and the All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values in 2019. She also advises policymakers all around the world on innovation and sustainable growth, and wrote the books The Entrepreneurial State and The Value of Everything.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App