Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan CBEis Chief Executive of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts and Visiting Professor at University College London, the London School of Economics and the University of Melbourne. Previously he was:...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionEducator
both complex council directly elected government include ministers organised parliament relationships shown
Europe has shown how government can be organised in a network. Its institutions both compete and co-operate and include a directly elected parliament that does not appoint the executive, independent judiciaries and a complex set of relationships between the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament.
ability change cynical government leave left opposite people rather
Many people leave government disillusioned about its ability to achieve change and cynical about politicians. I left with rather opposite lessons.
good government including lies operate responsibility system themselves
The responsibility for good government lies not just with governments themselves but also with every other part of the system they operate in, including media, non-governmental organisations and the public.
across average england europe figures government local lowest serves several simply
Local government in England is simply too big. Our lowest tier serves an average population of 118,500, while in the U.S. and across continental Europe the figures are more like several thousand.
academia brought charge civil complex crops dissecting gm government including nuclear outside people problems schools science servant solving strategy work
As a civil servant in charge of the government's Strategy Unit, I brought in many people from outside government, including academia and science, to work in the unit, dissecting and solving complex problems from GM crops to alcohol, nuclear proliferation to schools reform.
book government people
A lot of people in government don't really read books at all.
zero distance government
All over the world, social innovation is tackling some of the most pressing problems facing society today - from fair trade, distance learning, hospices, urban farming and waste reduction to restorative justice and zero-carbon housing. But most of these are growing despite, not because of, help from governments.
technology government cities
The City of London has never been known for understanding technology and has never matched Silicon Valley's tradition of knowledgeable investment in technology start-ups, just as the U.K. government has never matched the vast investment made by the U.S. government.
children cutting government
Governments that invest billions in new hardware still find it hard to accept that they might benefit just as much from systematic innovation in such things as child development or cutting crime.
attention everyday life mainstream money oil software taken time
Predation is part of the everyday life of capitalism, in sectors as mainstream as pharmaceuticals, software and oil - where people's money, their data, their time and their attention are routinely taken in fundamentally asymmetrical exchanges.
honours monarchy palaces
Radicalism is as British as tea and cakes, as much a part of our make-up as monarchy and football. It will never have its own jubilees, palaces or honours system.
charities people provider
People don't want charities to usurp the state as the core provider of social services.
vigorous
Vigorous independent and critical media are indispensable in a democracy.
biases compass contain favour love moral plenty protect rich steely themselves whatever
Most governments do have inbuilt biases in favour of the rich and powerful, and most do contain plenty of manipulators who love intrigue, who have lost whatever moral compass they may once have had and who protect themselves with steely cynicism.