IA fortnight ago, the majestic Bayerischer Hof hotel hosted the Munich security conference. Over the weekend, international leaders and geopolitical specialists discussed the future of the war between Ukraine and Russia. A host as omnipresent as he was discreet slipped into the middle of this diplomatic ballet orchestrated under the aegis of the German government: McKinsey. “Over the past decade, the US-based consultancy has quietly influenced the conference agenda, steering everything from report focus, to event program, to guest lists »decrypted investigation from the US site Politico.
In response, the conference organizers insisted on the character ” independent “ et “non-partisan” of the event, while the consulting firm wanted to put its role into perspective, defining itself as a ” partner “ seeking to benefit pro bono participants of its international expertise. This controversy is only a new episode in the debate on the place occupied by consulting firms in the public sphere.
The subject punctuated the last presidential campaign in France. Criticisms have focused on the power in place and its propensity to resort indiscriminately to service providers, whose effectiveness remains to be proven. A report by the Senate’s commission of inquiry affirmed that the contracts between the State and the cabinets had “more than doubled” between 2018 and 2021, for a record amount of more than 1 billion euros in 2021. In December 2022, the Luxembourg Palace adopted an amendment aimed at “establish true transparency in consulting services”. In vain: the text was ultimately not retained in the 2023 finance law.
The fact that this attempt to regulate practices has fizzled should not end the debate on an issue that goes well beyond our borders, as shown by the book by two economists from University College London (UCL), Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, The Big Con (“the big scam”, Allen Lane, 368 pages, 28 euros, untranslated). The thesis supported by the two authors? “How the consulting industry weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments and distorts our economies. » Stripper.
Dependents on McKinsey and other Deloittes
The book describes the rise of consulting firms within the public sphere, which, by dint of outsourcing its skills, ended up becoming dependent on McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, PwC and other Deloittes. By entrusting them with more and more missions on the development of public policies, crisis management or even the rationalization of functions, governments have ended up losing all confidence in their own ability to really lead.
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