In this episode, we dive into The Big Con, the provocative book by economists Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, which exposes the deep entanglement between the consulting industry and the modern management of business and government. From McKinsey to PwC, the authors argue that these firms don’t just advise—they shape policy, stifle innovation, and erode accountability.

In this lecture by Rosie Colington, followed by a discussion with professor of public administration Martijn van der Steen, we unpack how decades of privatization, financialization, and risk aversion have empowered consultancies to act as unchallenged arbiters of expertise, often to the detriment of the public good. Collington calls for a bold reimagining of how we build capacity within our institutions, shifting from outsourced dependency to collective intelligence—reclaiming the promise of both democracy and innovation.