Mission Economy

A dramatic and powerful call for a new approach to society and government, using the determined co-ordination of the moon landings as a blueprint for change.

The extraordinary efforts that took mankind to the moon 50 years ago were more than a scientific feat of aeronautics. They required new forms of collaboration between the public sector (notably, NASA) and private companies. This book asks: what if the same level of boldness—the boldness that set inspirational goals, took risks and explicitly recognised that this requires large spending but will be worthwhile in terms of long-term growth—was applied to the biggest problems of our time, such as climate change, disease and inequality, to name only a few?

Mariana Mazzucato argues that by applying innovation to societal goals and structuring government budgets more explicitly to the long-term, as the moon programme did, we can do government differently.

Mission Economy envisions a new way to tackle the persistent challenges of the modern world by drawing on the lessons and boldness of the past.