Rainer Kattel

The post-neoliberal state is here — now comes the hard part Reflections on 2025 from an EU vantage point — and what 2026 will test.

What does “strategic autonomy” actually mean in practice?
I argue it’s a stack: defence, dual-use, digital — and 2026 will judge Europe on whether it can deliver, not announce. End-of-year essay here: rainerkattel.substack.com/p/the-post-n...

✍️ "Work isn’t working, but it could."

Catch up on our 2025 IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel featuring @hilarycottam.bsky.social in conversation with Professors @rainerkattel.bsky.social & @mazzucatom.bsky.social on her new book 'The Work We Need'.

🔗 Watch the recording here: buff.ly/rJfSns1

☮️ Peace as an Economic Strategy

What would an economy oriented around a peace mission look like in practice? IIPP Director @mazzucatom.bsky.social and Co-Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social explore this in their latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article.

🔗 Read more here: buff.ly/Jv2ZeSc

Peace as an Economic Strategy Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel see great potential in public-policy “missions” to address the root causes of conflict and instability.

Since British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clearly cares about peace, he should recognize that it is not just an aspiration but a potential engine of economic transformation, @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social write. bit.ly/4s7Ihbm

🪪 Why don't we have ID cards in the UK?

IIPP Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social joined @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room to discuss what a possible ID card system might look like in the UK, and if it would work.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: buff.ly/e3P8Izf

Less as more: decomputing in the age of tech accelerationism — Resources for today's policymakers By Bianca Wylie In 2021, in the Journal of Social Computing, historian Jonnie Penn made the argument for “Algorithmic Silence: A Call to Decomputerize.” As he summarizes:   “Tech critics become...

Digital public infrastructure is not new, nor is digital public infrastructure an inherently good public good. State power is state power is state power, and there are few cases where government infrastructure has been universally accessible www.policyready.ca/policymaking...

✍️ Reframing urban innovation around capabilities, directionality, and the politics of change

IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that cities need a new investment logic to steer innovation towards societal wellbeing.

🔗 Read his recent Substack here: buff.ly/eoqweYZ

✍️ Reframing urban innovation around capabilities, directionality, and the politics of change

IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that cities need a new investment logic to steer innovation towards societal wellbeing.

🔗 Read his recent Substack here: buff.ly/lHTsVD7

Growth Is Not a Mission — But Peace Could Be Can Starmer save himself, and his government, by rethinking his mission?

Growth won’t save Starmer. It’s a metric, not a mission. What if the real mission was peace — at home (less division, stronger communities) and abroad (diplomacy, democracy, humanitarian leadership)? Peace gives politics direction. Growth doesn’t.

Read on: open.substack.com/pub/rainerka...

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts

The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments.

🔗Read more: buff.ly/8Zf9nsE

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts

The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments.

🔗Read more: buff.ly/a5G9TRi

⏮️ A look back at the launch of the Public Sector Capabilities Index (PSCI), featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anaclaudia Rossbach, Claudio Castro & @nycfood.bsky.social.

📺 Watch the event recording: buff.ly/8qHThzr

Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel explain how well-resourced, adaptive municipal governance can protect residents from future shocks.

Once seen mainly as centers of service delivery, cities are now the front lines of modern governance. As demands grow, municipal authorities must be empowered to act decisively in the public interest, argue @iipp-ucl.bsky.social's @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social. bit.ly/48sGOoH

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts

The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments.

🔗Read more: buff.ly/5oUiob3

✍️ From Digital Feudalism to Digital Sovereignty

Catch up on our 2025 IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel chaired by Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social & featuring @mazzucatom.bsky.social, @francescabria.bsky.social, @ceciliarikap.bsky.social & Mike Bracken

🔗 Watch the recording: buff.ly/m44Tj3k

⏮️ A look back at the launch of the Public Sector Capabilities Index (PSCI), featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anaclaudia Rossbach, Claudio Castro & @nycfood.bsky.social.

📺 Watch the event recording: buff.ly/ZpWlmc4

Für die Demokratie: Städte brauchen dringend Investitionen In den Städten zeigen sich Kürzungen in der Verwaltung direkt. Sie sind aber auch der Ort, an dem Innovation und Investitionen besonders effektiv wirken können.

Oft werden Investitionen in Stadtverwaltungen als weniger wichtig angesehen als solche in Infrastruktur oder Sicherheit Das ist ein Irrtum", schreiben @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social in ihrem lesenswerten Artikel @surplusmagazin.bsky.social

www.surplusmagazin.de/demokratie-s...

🎤 From Insight to Action

Join us for the launch of the new Public Sector Capabilities Index report, featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anacláudia Rossbach, and Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr.

🔗 Learn more here: buff.ly/QWael2j

🚀 Launching our newest report on Public Sector Capabilities Index @iipp-ucl.bsky.social on Oct 3. Cities helped us co-create a tool to show how govts can learn, adapt & deliver in complexity. In person or online, register here

🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-insig...

✍️ Getting to “zero bureaucracy” takes a lot of bureaucracy.

IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that how we orchestrate bureaucracy matters to deliver fast, fair, and trustworthy services that create public value.

🔗 Read his latest blog here: buff.ly/9MOzxFd

Keir Starmer to launch progressive fightback against ‘decline and division’ fuelled by far right Prime minister expected to warn UK is ‘at a crossroads’ as he sets out plan to counter Nigel Farage and Reform

Strong 'planning to plan' vibes here: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

👋🏻 A warm welcome to our new MPA Cohort

We are pleased to welcome the latest IIPP MPA Cohort yesterday, with Co-Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social and our core faculty kicking off our introduction week!

🔗 Learn more about our MPA Programme here: buff.ly/nfkcOk7

Europe's Innovation Agencies Need Radical Reform To Meet Today's Grand Challenges Innovation agencies in the EU are no longer fit for purpose. A major overhaul of both the concept of innovation and of institutional structures is urgent.

Europe’s innovation agencies are stuck in old habits — grant-giving, compliance, and rigid oversight — when the world needs institutions that **learn, adapt, and lead**.

Full article 👉 www.socialeurope.eu/europes-inno...

How much bureaucracy do we need to achieve “zero bureaucracy”? By Rainer Kattel

“Zero bureaucracy” isn’t the absence of rules — it’s the presence of good ones, embedded in routines & digital infrastructures.

Full blog 👉 medium.com/iipp-blog/how-much-bureaucracy-do-we-need-to-achieve-zero-bureaucracy-9c586274da0a

A new academic year @iipp-ucl.bsky.social

🪪 Why don't we have ID cards in the UK?

IIPP Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social joined @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room to discuss what a possible ID card system might look like in the UK, and if it would work.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: buff.ly/cWLppNb

✍️ Can Design Transform Governance?

IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social, co-author of the recently published Public Design Evidence Review (PDER), reflects on the role of design in creating better public policies and services.

🔗 Read his new blog post here: buff.ly/2zMzPpH

🎤 From Insight to Action: Scaling the Public Sector Capabilities Index

Join us at the launch of the new IIPP Public Sector Capabilities Index report, featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson.

🔗 Register here: buff.ly/BlceTFU

✍️ Are ‘dynamic capabilities’ just ‘public sector innovation’ with a different name?

IIPP's Ruth Puttick, Fernando Fernandez-Monge, and @rainerkattel.bsky.social unpack this often-asked question in their latest blog post, exploring the close relation of both terms.

🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/xza1qI2

Good point by ‪@rainerkattel.bsky.social‬. He would agree that
not just the innovation agencies but the whole bureaucratic edifice needs modernisation. In fact, the necessary return of the State is not in Trump's tariff-mad mode, but in a creative way, providing directionality and missions.