Thinkers Timeline

Mariana Mazzucato is an economist. She was born in Rome, Italy, in 1968. Her father was a physicist, and when she was a child the family moved to the United States, where her father worked at Princeton University. She grew up mostly in the United States and later returned to Europe. She holds both Italian and American citizenship. Mazzucato studied history and international relations as an undergraduate, then moved into economics for her doctorate. Today she is a professor at University College London, in Britain, where she founded a research centre called the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She became widely known in 2013 with her book 'The Entrepreneurial State'. It argued that governments, not just private companies, are major drivers of new technology. Later books include 'The Value of Everything' (2018), 'Mission Economy' (2021), and 'The Big Con' (2023). Mazzucato is unusual among economists for her direct influence on real policy. She has advised governments and international bodies around the world, including in Britain, Italy, South Africa, and the European Union, and she works with the United Nations and other organisations. She is also a strong communicator who reaches a wide public. As a living, working economist, her ideas are still developing and are actively debated.