Economists actively denied the crisis, not merely failed to predict it.

Evidence

19 “It’s not just that they missed it, they positively denied that it would happen” (Knowledge@Wharton, “Why Economists Failed to Predict the Financial Crisis”). Compare this with an unfounded apologetic version of events: “It is impossible to predict a stock market collapse … [yet] there were many economists who did see that something was seriously wrong: they anticipated that a crash was virtually inevitable” (Backhouse, The Puzzle of Modern Economics, p. 94). Backhouse, a historian, declines to name any of those prescient souls. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2180

Categorization

• QUESTION: Who are the ‘many economists’ Backhouse claims saw the crash? His failure to name them is a telling omission worth chasing.
• XREF: connects to: Mainstream economists admit failure to predict the crisis but resist overhauling the discipline — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 517; Chicago economists deny the crisis falsified their core theories — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 718; The financial system failed to foresee crisis because its risk theory denied catastrophes — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 100 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Chicago economists deny the crisis falsified their core theories #exemplifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 718
• Mainstream economists defended their failure by calling crises tautologically unpredictable. #exemplifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2190
• Mainstream economists admit failure to predict the crisis but resist overhauling the discipline #qualifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 517
• Economists defended failed prediction by asserting contradictory claims at once #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 697
• The financial system failed to foresee crisis because its risk theory denied catastrophes #expands (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 100