Mariana Mazzucato

"The state is not a business. We have to stop thinking of the state as a business and start thinking of it as an institution that creates the public goods that allow business to happen."

"Innovation is not just about creating new products, it's about creating new value systems."

"We need to recognize that public institutions have been crucial to every technological revolution."

"The myth of the entrepreneur as a lone genius obscures the collective nature of innovation."

"If you want to understand capitalism, you have to understand the role of the state in creating the conditions for innovation."

"Risk-taking is not the entrepreneur's unique gift—it's something the public sector has always done."

"We talk about creative destruction, but we never talk about who bears the cost of that destruction."

"The public sector has been the most risk-taking investor in the history of capitalism."

"Markets don't create value; relationships create value. Markets just exchange it."

"We've been sold a story about innovation that is fundamentally false."

"The state doesn't just fix market failures; the state actively creates markets."

"If we want more innovation, we need to invest more boldly in public institutions."

"The entrepreneurial state is not about the state being entrepreneurial; it's about the state taking risk."

"We live in a society where we celebrate private wealth creation while denigrating public value creation."

"The best innovations come from combining public sector boldness with private sector efficiency."

"Public institutions need to be able to take risks without fear of being dismantled."

"The venture capital industry has mythologized its role in innovation while minimizing the public's contribution."

"When we defund public institutions, we're not saving money—we're mortgaging the future."

"Innovation requires long-term thinking, which is precisely what markets struggle with."

"The internet, GPS, touchscreen technology—all came from public sector R&D."

"We should be asking not whether the state can innovate, but why it has innovated so much."

"Austerity is not a solution; it's a political choice that stifles innovation."

"The public sector takes the biggest risks because it can afford to fail."

"If you want to understand the future, you have to understand the role of public institutions."

"We've created a system where public sector workers are underpaid and undervalued despite their crucial contributions."

"Innovation is not about having a good idea; it's about having the resources to pursue that idea."

"The problem is not that public institutions are inefficient; the problem is that we measure their success incorrectly."

"Markets are good at allocating existing resources, but terrible at creating new ones."

"Public institutions need to be bold because they serve the public, not shareholders."

"The narrative of the lone entrepreneur has done tremendous damage to our understanding of innovation."