Yakov Feygin on the Designer Economy

For a few decades, it was clear that whatever needed to be settled was best done by the market. But what is valid today, when the old leitmotif no longer applies? And what if the alternative cannot be that instead of the market, the state now regulates everything and always? Dani Rodrik and Mariana Mazzucato have tried to answer this question in recent years with their concepts of ‘productivism’ and ‘mission economy’ respectively. Another proposal has now been made by the Berggruen economist Yakov Feygin – who in a widely acknowledged essay has elaborated the idea of a “designer economy“.

In said essay, Yakov Feygin and co-author Nils Gilman explore the possibility of uniting different political camps in the US behind the idea of a pro-active role for the government in shaping the economy.

Instead of focusing on ex-post redistribution and regulation, the government in the Designer Economy has the necessary administrative capacity to ex-ante implement directed supply side policies, observing technological and economic trends to promote country specific potentialities. Rather than commanding one ideal path, the politics of design are about what features are wanted in the future for the economy to better serve shared prosperity and common societal goals.

We have invited Yakov Feygin to discuss his theses in this co-organized event with Forum New Economy on April 18 at 6pm CET on Zoom.