Behavioral economists never intended to displace mainstream neoclassical orthodoxy

Evidence

Hence, when some economists speculated that the orthodoxy would give way to a “more realistic” behavioral economics in reaction to the crisis, it was primarily a symptom of the general unwillingness to entertain any serious departure from conventional arguments. If anyone had bothered to actually read any of the leaders of the behavioral “movement,” they would have quickly realized that those economists went out of their way to renounce any ambitions to displace the orthodoxy. In one spectacularly badly timed compromise, in 2005 Andrew Lo had sought to reconcile the findings of behavioral finance with the efficient-markets hypothesis. And most behavioral economists couldn’t care less about the layered complexity of the human soul. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 741

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of how heterodox challenges get absorbed by orthodox economics without genuine paradigm change. — connects to: Behavioral economics explicitly denies being a paradigm shift in economics — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 743; Behavioral economics gets coopted to excuse rather than reform orthodox theory — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 745; Behavioral economics shares origins with, rather than refutes, neoliberal thought — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 39 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Behavioral economics explicitly denies being a paradigm shift in economics #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 743
• Behavioral economics gets coopted to excuse rather than reform orthodox theory #complicates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 745
• Behavioral economics shares origins with, rather than refutes, neoliberal thought #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 39