Markets are not static entities that are 'intervened' in (for good or bad) but are outcomes of public and private interactions.
Mariana MazzucatoCompanies prefer to put money in the pockets of shareholders or to hoard cash rather than to raise wages or invest.
Mariana MazzucatoMost venture capital funds are too short-termist and exit-driven to deal with the highly uncertain and lengthy innovation process.
Mariana MazzucatoI often use the iPhone as an example of how governments shape markets, because what makes the iPhone โsmartโ and not stupid is what you can do with it. And yes, everything you can do with an iPhone was government-funded. From the Internet that allows you to surf the Web, to GPS that lets you use Google Maps, to touch screen display and even the SIRI voice activated system - all of these things were funded by Uncle Sam through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA, the Navy, and even the CIA!
Mariana MazzucatoMainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even that more limited role. Austerity, particularly in Europe, has added to the problem. It has not worked, even on its own terms.
Mariana Mazzucato