Harvard economist Miron deflected crisis causation toward timeless historical repetition

Evidence

Jeffrey Miron of Harvard muddied the waters further by introducing the Rogoff Reinhart neoliberal line: “In asking whether the recent financial crisis could have been avoided, the crucial fact is that crises of various flavors have occurred for centuries in countries around the world. Thus, any explanation based mainly on recent factors—subprime lending, derivatives trading, or financial deregulation—cannot be the whole story. A full account must identify factors that have been present widely, and for centuries.” How the Dutch Tulip craze would help illuminate the structural deficiencies of a CDO-squared was left for someone else to figure out. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 896

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the Rogoff-Reinhart ‘This Time Is Different’ thesis the author critiques; a specific instance of how Orthodox ‘agnotology’ manufactures confusion about crisis causes. — connects to: Crises recurring across eras implies neoliberalism may not cause them — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1787; Economic crises alone do not directly cause fundamental historical events — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 766; Whole-trend historical explanations often mask escapes from responsibility

Broader Connections

• Economic crises alone do not directly cause fundamental historical events #qualifies (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 766
• Whole-trend historical explanations often mask escapes from responsibility #exemplifies (0.80)