Economists who enabled the 2008 crisis emerged without any institutional consequences
Evidence
Neoclassical economists, having worked hard to convince the world that everything was hunky-dory circa 2005, and concurrently having invented the rationales and the theories behind the financial time bombs that went off across the landscape, don’t seem to have suffered one whit for the subsequent sequence of events, a slow-motion train wreck that one might reasonably have expected would have rubbished the credibility of lesser mortals. Individually and collectively, they have only become more dominant in academia and in government. No one among their number was fired for incompetence; no one was forced to endure status degradation ceremonies. Economists were not drummed out of their government posts. No departments of economics were closed as cost-saving measures. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 438
Categorization
- SEED: The paradox of the economics profession’s total impunity after 2008 is a sharp angle for an essay: professions that caused crises and paid no price, versus the ‘status degradation ceremonies’ sociologists describe.
- XREF: connects to: Establishment economists defended Greenspan despite the 2008 crisis — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2035; Economics survived the 2008 crisis intellectually unscathed, unlike other disciplines under attack — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 456; The 2008 crisis discredited efficient-market economists in public policy debate — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 158 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Economists responsible for the AIG collapse faced no reputational consequences and gained advisory power
#exemplifies(0.88) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 564 - Economics survived the 2008 crisis intellectually unscathed, unlike other disciplines under attack
#expands(0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 456 - The 2008 crisis discredited efficient-market economists in public policy debate
#contradicts(0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 158 - The 2008 financial collapse produced no accountable wrongdoers and no industry reform
#corroborates(0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1564