ANTHONY BUTLER: Shooting for the moon is a pie in the sky goal for SA politics
Desperate governments tend to hire advisers who will tell them what they want to hear, and Mariana Mazzucato has our government’s ear
02 April 2021 - 08:19
We all agree that the presidential economic advisory council shouldn’t just be a talking shop. It is less clear whether it should directly challenge the conventional assumptions of the president and his ministers, or instead accept — and merely refine — the prevailing ideas of those in power.
Cynics have long embraced a general rule about the role of ideas in political life. Politicians do not dispassionately seek out the truth or, indeed, consistently recall that such a concept exists. Instead, they search for theories — and academic advisers — that tell them what they want to hear...
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