The Big Con

Resumen del libro

There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today which must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies' reliance on companies such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain x{0026} Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The 'Big Con' describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms.

It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by both the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks - as advisors, legitimators and outsourcers - and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. To make matters worse, our best and brightest graduates are often redirected away from public service into consulting.

In all these ways, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments and warps our economies. Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.

We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.

Biografía del autor

MARIANA MAZZUCATO(Roma, 1968) Economista experta en finanzas, innova ción y desarrollo, ha sido recientemente calificada por New Re public como una de las pensadoras más innovadoras en la ac tualidad. Doctorada en Económicas por la New School for Social Research, de Nueva York, ha sido profesora universita ria en Estados Unidos, Reino Unido e Ita lia, ha trabajado como asesora para la Co misión Europea y el gobierno británico, y actualmente imparte clases en la Univer sidad de Sussex. Entre sus trabajos y co laboraciones destacan Firm Size, Innova tion and Market Structure: The Evolution of Market Concentration and Instability, la obra colectiva Personal Investment: Fi nancial Planning in an Uncertain World y El Estado emprendedor.