Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington have just published the book Gezur Handia. It analyses the negative effects that private offices have on government policy design in the name of economic efficiency. The subtitle of the book draws the contents: “The consulting industry weakens companies, infantilizes governments and makes the economy lose.”

Mazzucato’s academic and political reputation with the Entrepreneurship State book in 2013. It has since managed to shake up the official debate on how to analyse and represent the economy, real value creation and government intervention. We must bear in mind that social democracy itself, after the 1990s, accepted the orthodox liberal perspective of the economy at the end of history. Orthodoxy led to the abolition of public power and the rise of private actors, as if the latter had an interest in common profit and their ultimate goal was not to increase profits.

The work of Mazzucato breaks this narrative, provoking with its prudent investigations a great hegemonic myth. It challenges the foundations of liberal logic by drawing attention to the importance of various approaches and institutions in the economic field. In these works he focuses his attention on the importance of the economic intervention of the public power and proclaims that it is a key actor to strengthen the economy, innovation and efficiency. Beyond the deterioration of the official economic paradigm and the construction of an alternative in favor of the public sector, has brought to light, along with Collington, a critical study on the necessary powerful advice, with the new book.

The book analyzes the trajectory of McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, KPMG and other giant official prestigious offices. And they firmly conclude that the model of doing business and influencing the public sector is a big lie, as the subtitle itself suggests.

Using numerous examples and case studies worldwide, the research analyses in depth that the incorporation of these consultants into the centre of public management has brought more than benefits for citizens and the economy. But there's one exception, the managers and shareholders of corporations, whose revenues have been huge.

In addition to the criticism that both authors make of the large consulting companies, the defendant must be added to the public authorities. In fact, from institutional responsibility, the doors are opened to the all-powerful consultants in parallel and the capacity to establish the broad lines of public policies is transferred. Thus, the public power expels the responsibility of its policies and prevents the presentation of what is necessary to society.

The Great Lie brings to the plaza the strength that certain social and institutional factors have within the mechanism and logic of the economy. With the rays of light that are essential to emulate the black clouds of the current economy, Mazzucato and Collington take another fundamental theoretical step for the general interest to prevail in public policies.