Episode 32: Can the West Make the State Competent Again? With Adrian Wooldridge

The Covid-19 crisis has shed new light on state failures in the West. Good government is a vital source of global competitive advantage – and, lately, countries like Singapore and South Korea have shown how a competently managed state can boost economic performance and handle acute health crises.

Fredrik Erixon talks to Adrian Wooldridge, the political editor of the Economist, about how Western countries have lost their taste for well-run government – with some plunging into big-government nationalism and others being complacent about bureaucratic inertia.

Can the West rethink the theory and practice of government? Will the rise of China push the West to reinvent the state – and yet again make it a competitive advantage?

This episode was recorded as a live webinar. Click here to watch this conversation on YouTube.