The Value of Everything: Who Makes and Who Takes from the Real Economy

Mariana Mazzucato

Sept 2018 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Randye Kaye

About this audiobook

The Value of Everything argues that American companies have for too long been valued according to the amount of wealth they capture for themselves rather than for the value they create for the economy. In fact, Pfizer, Amazon, and other companies are actually dependent on public money, spend their resources on boosting share prices and executive pay, and reap ever-expanding rewards without offering the market value. In her previous work, The Entrepreneurial State, Mariana Mazzucato argued that public investment has been the most significant driver of innovation and product development. The iPhone as it exists would not have been possible without government-sponsored technology like Siri and Touch ID. Yet Apple today, like numerous other companies, is engaging in a massive repurchase scheme, and for the first time has prioritized value-extraction practices such as spending to boost shareholder profit-the very initiatives that funded their software. If private companies continue down this path, they will succeed in diminishing the size of their largest and most successful investor-the state-and will destroy powerful opportunities, shrivel markets, and depress wealth.

Ratings and reviews

Not sure what happened between recording and printing the book but the audio and the text don't match up quite frequently. It's not only annoying but also a low quality product, not something I would pay for.

About the author

Mariana Mazzucato holds the RM Phillips chair in the Economics of Innovation at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex. She is the author of The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths.

Randye Kaye is an accomplished voice talent, actress, singer, broadcaster, and author. She received a Listen-Up Award nomination and starred reviews for Ben Behind His Voices, which she also wrote, bringing together the various facets of her career.