THE STATE

New Economy Working Paper - Challenge-driven economic policy - A new framework for Germany

A new study by Mariana Mazzucato and her team from the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London

BY

MARC ADAM

PUBLISHED

22. NOVEMBER 2020

READING TIME

1 MIN.

As Mariana Mazzucato, Rainer Kattel, Keno Haverkamp and Josh Ryan-Collins from the IIPP explain, Germany is a model of how the state has promoted the dissemination of new technologies – and has done so actively. But when it comes to the major challenges of our time, such as climate change or digitization, we do come up against limits. The kind of transformation that is currently affecting mobility systems cannot be achieved simply through open competition among technologies. We need a state that sets the course. According to the authors, Germany today has the opportunity to combine its strength in the diffusion of technologies with a new understanding of mission-oriented politics. In the study, the IIPP team works out the framework for a new German industrial policy.

The complete study is publicly available as a Forum New Economy Working Paper – below. The study was first published at our VII. New Paradigm Workshop at the end of September 2020 in Berlin. The recording of the presentation and comments by Klaus Deutsch, Philipp Steinberg and Patrizia Nanz can be found further below.

ABOUT THE STATE

KNOWLEDGE BASE

For decades, there was a consensus that reducing the role of the state and cutting public debt would generate wealth. This contributed to a chronic underinvestment in education and public infrastructure. New research focuses on establishing when and how governments need to intervene to better contribute to long-term prosperity and to stabilize rather than aggravate economic fluctuations.

ARTICLE OVERVIEW