Economists Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington argue that consultants can, at best, give dubious guidance, and at worst, exacerbate government and private sector dysfunction. In their book The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies, the economists argue consultants emerged in a post–Ronald Reagan era of reduced regulations, necessitating third parties come in to save institutions who had lost faith in themselves.
Instead of righting the ship, Mazzucato and Collington argued, these consultants created just an “impression of value,” an illusion of helpfulness, and little else, all while the government and private companies burned money to hire them.
