The only problem with the message the international economist preached in Australia is that government is terrible, and always has been, at moonshot missions.
The leftist economist Mariana Mazzucato has just finished a week-long tour of Australia that seemed like a bit of a victory lap. She gave speeches at expensive lunches, introduced enthusiastically by politicians, with a rapt audience made up of key figures from industry and the innovation sector. She came to preach a message about the mission of government.
Now I have a lot of time for Mariana Mazzucato. As do many presidents, prime ministers, mayors and others who have followed her advice on sustainable and inclusive growth driven by technological innovation. Her earlier work on the innovation economy correctly identified the important role that government plays in this space.
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Toby Walsh is the chief scientist at the AI Institute at the University of New South Wales.
