Premium: Beware new trend of government claiming credit for private sector innovation

Time to revisit Ayn Rand, particularly her fourth and final novel, Atlas Shrugged. Written in 1957, it's a powerful story of a dystopian society where entrepreneurs are denigrated and innovation attacked. Few who have read the book will forget the storyline or its main characters Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden and, of course, John Galt.

The commentary republished below by the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal is what's sending me back to Rand's masterpiece. It highlights a worrying trend. Spearheaded by the likes of University College London prof Mariana Mazzucato, there's a growing belief among bureaucrats that entrepreneurial success is actually due to the brilliance of bureaucrats.

The last time I attended Davos, at a dinner the same Mazzucato sat between myself and SA's Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who urged me to read her. As did fellow communist, cabinet colleague Ebrahim Patel. Mazzucato was also warmly greeted by Cyril Ramaphosa, who later appointed her (the only European) to his Economic Advisory Council.

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