the big con: how the consulting industry weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies

 
　　《萬物的價值》作者、經濟學家瑪里亞娜‧馬祖卡托，與蘿西‧科林頓，在本書聯手揭露這些世界知名的顧問公司：麥肯錫、波士頓顧問公司、貝恩策略顧問公司、資誠、勤業眾信、安侯建業、安永等等，是如何阻礙了創新，模糊了企業、政治責任，甚至妨礙了遏止氣候惡化的行動。
 
　　本書將深入探討幾個經手於顧問公司，而導致錯誤決策的個案研究，如HealthCare.gov網站的失敗、政府在疫情中的種種政策手段等等，看顧問公司如何利用「信任騙局」，與那些想規避風險、一心牟利的政府機關和企業簽署契約，從旁協助這些機構獲取最大利益，讓自身在現代資本主義的弊病之上成長茁壯。他們透過各式契約和運作網絡大大施展其影響力，並對外塑造出客觀、專業的形象，最終這樣的手法，導致企業的弱化，政府的無能，並摧毀了經濟。作者在揭露顧問業界醜陋一面的同時，試圖找到一個新系統，讓政府與私人部門能夠在其中以創新的方式運作，為共同利益努力。(文/博客來編譯)

A vital and timely investigation into the opaque and powerful consulting industry--and what to do about it

There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies’ reliance on companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown.

The ＂Big Con＂ describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks--as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers--and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies.

In The Big Con, Mazzucato and Collington throw back the curtain on the consulting industry. They dive deep into important case studies of consultants taking the reins with disastrous results, such as the debacle of the roll out of HealthCare.gov and the tragic failures of governments to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is an important and exhilarating intellectual journey into the modern economy’s beating heart. With peerless scholarship, and a wealth of original research, Mazzucato and Collington argue brilliantly for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.

Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, where she directs the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Her best selling books include The Entrepreneurial State, The Value of Everything and Mission Economy. Her many prizes include the 2020 John von Neumann Award and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.She is Chair of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health for All and a member of the UN High Level Advisory Board for Economic and Social Affairs.
Rosie Collington is a Ph.D. candidate at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, where she researches outsourcing. She has written for The Guardian, OpenDemocracy, and The Independent, has published with New Political Economy and the Institute for New Economic Thinking, and has conducted policy research for the Common Wealth and the British Heart Foundation.