A collective response to our global challenges: a common good and ‘market-shaping’ approach

Governments must shift their historic focus around efficiency and free markets to creating collective intelligence, "missions", and markets that can be deployed to achieve complex societal objectives.

Not directly referring to regeneration, the author nonetheless presents a governmental-level design approach that embeds regenerative design and co-creation approach through what she refers to as "missions", broader societal objectives that incorporate a holistic approach to participation and planned outcomes incorporating interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches.  

Abstract: "To effectively address the grand challenges of our time, we cannot simply tinker around the edges by fixing market failures. We must actively shape markets to deliver on the objective of generating more sustainable and inclusive growth. This paper argues that an objective-oriented economy requires a market-shaping approach; one that accompanies the concept of the public good with the common good framing that is needed to design the interface for this collaboration. This is about structuring the conditions and governance mechanisms that shape the capabilities, tools, institutions and partnerships needed to take concrete action. Building collective intelligence into these dimensions ex-ante is essential for maximising public value for all actors involved. This paper sets out how a market-shaping and common good framing can be conceptualised and brought together. Importantly, missions can be used to orient and coordinate policies, institutions, innovation and investments around clear, ambitious and measurable goals. Further, this paper addresses the implications for key global challenges, from climate change to pandemics.

By Mariana Mazzucato, University College London

HT: Sukhvinder Singh Jhotti 

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