On Wednesday, January 14, the Jenaer Schumpeter Center for Research on Socio-Economic Change (JSEC) organized a panel discussion on the Political Economy of Mission Oriented Economic Policy. Chaired by the Center's former Director Andreas Freytag,?Uwe Cantner, the Center's acting?Director, Jan Cernicky from the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, Berlin, and Mark Pennington from Kings College, London, explored the different dimensions of mission orientation and discussed chances and risks. Having?a divergent assessment, the participants manage to show the audience the full scope of the subject matter.?

?First, they laid?out different concepts of mission orientation, ranging from very narrow objectives to grand transformation. By doing this, they second?discussed the different actors involved in policy missions including their interests. Third, the division of labour between government and private actors was discussed. The panelists took different perspectives and attitudes towards a mission orientation, but?agreed that the state cannot act as entrepreneur but mostly as catalyst, if at all. They also brought?to the fore incentives for lobbyists as well as the danger that?a government choosing a grand?mission -?such as transforming society to a carbon free economy?- may be tempted to?to narrow down the scope of opinions, which in the worst case can lead authoritarian tendencies and limit democratic rights. and civil liberties.

The audience was involved in this discussion and challenged the panelists in a way that forced them to carve out the differences in perspective and offer new insights into both the economics and the political economy of mission orientation. The moderator wishes to thank the panelists, the audience as well as Susanne Büchner for organizing this rewarding event.