The Common Good Economy

For too long, economics has treated 'the good' - whether public goods or the commons - as merely correcting market or government failures. This economic framing traps us in an endless cycle of being reactive, patching problems rather than proactively building the economy we need.

In The Common Good Economy, Mariana Mazzucato builds on her visionary ideas of the entrepreneurial state and mission-oriented policies to establish a new theory of the common good, one which allows governments and businesses to develop purposeful economic relationships, creating value and building spaces where human flourishing can happen. She argues that how we achieve collective goals - through collective action, participation and reciprocity - matters as much as what those goals are. The book provides a practical 'common good compass' to help navigate our economies in a radically different direction.