The Innovative State: Governments Should Make Markets, Not Just Fix Them

Mariana Mazzucato, William Janeway and Sidney Winter discuss the role of government in innovation, from basic research through commercialisation. Mazzucato challenges the view that the public sector should simply withdraw and allow private enterprise to innovate, arguing that public institutions have often taken risks that businesses were unwilling to bear.

The panel examines public investment across the innovation process and the consequences of shrinking the budgets of agencies involved in technological development. It asks whether governments should actively help create markets as well as address market failures, and how public and private institutions can contribute to economic growth.