The extraordinary efforts that took mankind to the moon 50 years ago were more than a scientific feat of aeronautics. They required new forms of collaboration between the public sector (notably, NASA) and private companies. This book asks: what if the same level of boldness - the boldness that set inspirational goals, took risks and explicitly recognized that this requires large spending but will be worthwhile in terms of long-term growth - was applied to the biggest problems of our time, climate change, disease and inequality, to name only a few? Mariana Mazzucato argues that applying innovation to societal goals and structuring government budgets more explicitly to the long-term, as the moon programme did, we can do government differently.

Mariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London where she is Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Her award-winning books include The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths (2013) and The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy (2018). She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led, inclusive and sustainable growth. Her current roles include being Chair of the World Health Organization's Council on the Economics of Health for All and a member of the Scottish Government's Council of Economic Advisors, the South African President's Economic Advisory Council, the UN High Level Advisory Board for Economic and Social Affairs, the UK's Innovation Expert Group, Argentina's Economic and Social Council, Vinnova's Advisory Panel in Sweden, and Norway's Research Council. She has won many prizes including the 2020 John von Neumann award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. In 2021, she received the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, Italy's highest civilian honour. She was named as one of the '3 most important thinkers about innovation' by The New Republic, one of the 50 most creative people in business in 2020 by Fast Company, and one of the 25 leaders shaping the future of capitalism by WIRED.