Conflicting defenses of economic orthodoxy after 2008 cannot all be true.

Evidence

Clearly, all these gems of conventional wisdom cannot all be simultaneously correct. Neoclassical economics cannot have been both oblivious to system degradation before the fact, and yet spot-on concerning the crisis all along. Perhaps we should have anticipated this reaction from a profession renowned for predicting fourteen of the last six downturns. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 443

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘predicting fourteen of the last six downturns’ jab connects to the broader critique of economist forecasting failures across the crisis literature; also a candidate for sharing with anyone citing Friedman’s forecasting. — connects to: The crisis exposed an epistemological contradiction festering inside orthodox economics — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 619; Leading orthodox economists could not agree on the crisis’s actual causes — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 809; The 2008 crisis was fundamentally a crisis of economic ideas — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 132 (+3 more)
• CANDY: ‘Predicting fourteen of the last six downturns’ is a memorably witty jab at economists’ forecasting record.

Broader Connections

• Leading orthodox economists could not agree on the crisis’s actual causes #exemplifies (0.92) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 809
• The crisis exposed an epistemological contradiction festering inside orthodox economics #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 619
• The 2008 crisis invalidated the preceding thirty years of financial orthodoxy #contradicts (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 133
• Economics survived the 2008 crisis intellectually unscathed, unlike other disciplines under attack #contradicts (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 456
• The 2008 crisis was fundamentally a crisis of economic ideas #qualifies (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 132