Economic ideas can blind policymakers to the flaws of their institutional designs

Evidence

But what makes the situation in Europe terrible at its core aren’t just these glaring holes in its institutional design or the immoral hazard posed by its banks. Rather, it’s what might be termed the “epistemic hubris” behind the whole euro monetary project, which again comes down to the power of a set of economic ideas that blinds us to the effects of our institutional designs, just as it did in the US case. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 252

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and defines the book’s key term ‘epistemic hubris’ for the European case.
• XREF: Echoes the US chapter’s argument about ideational blindness, tying the book’s two case studies together. — connects to: Economic theories serve as blueprints for institutions, and faulty theories produce fragile ones — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 120; Economists’ claim to transcendent knowledge collapses when they enter governance — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1597; Market ideology functions to repress freedom rather than secure it — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 600 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Economists’ claim to transcendent knowledge collapses when they enter governance #exemplifies (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1597
• Economists’ persistence in error needs institutional explanation, not just psychology #expands (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 490
• Neoliberal governance reshapes scholarship to serve economic usefulness #expands (0.75) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 626
• Market ideology functions to repress freedom rather than secure it #complicates (0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 600
• Manufactured doubt need not be consciously willed to paralyze economic reform #exemplifies (0.70) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 670