In many ways, the public want more government: to shape a fairer, more dynamic economy and protect ordinary people from the consequences of a turbulent world. But they also see, all around them in their everyday lives, the evidence of a state that doesn’t work: roads full of unfixed potholes, GP appointments unavailable for weeks, and rivers full of sewage.After over 15 years of stagnant productivity, weak business investment, and low GDP growth, the case for a more activist economic state has entered the mainstream. Yet many of those shaping this agenda are also deeply critical of the state as it actually operates. It appears bloated and unresponsive; staffed by civil servants who cannot deliver at the pace required. More diffusely, the public also feels that the British state is too expensive and wasteful – taxes are too high, civil servants too numerous – and yet still unable to meet everyday needs.