THE BIG CON

There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today which must change Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies reliance on companies such as McKinsey 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 both 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 To make matters worse our best and brightest graduates are often redirected away from public service into consulting In all these ways the Big Con weakens our businesses infantilizes our governments an