The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies

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This timely investigation into the powerful consulting industry highlights the need for change in the entrenched relationship between consulting firms and the management of business and government. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington reveal how reliance on major companies like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte stifles innovation, obscures accountability, and hampers efforts to combat climate change. The authors describe the "Big Con," a confidence trick that exploits risk-averse governments and profit-driven firms, rooted in the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. This phenomenon thrives on the challenges of modern capitalism, including financialization and privatization, and is facilitated by the extensive influence of consultancies, which position themselves as objective experts. Ultimately, the Big Con undermines businesses, infantilizes governments, and distorts economies. Through compelling case studies, including the failures of HealthCare.gov and inadequate pandemic responses, Mazzucato and Collington expose the detrimental impact of consulting practices. Their rigorous scholarship and original research advocate for a new system where public and private sectors collaborate innovatively for the common good, offering an exhilarating intellectual journey into the core of the modern economy.