Left academics wrongly assumed the 2008 crash would doom neoliberalism

Evidence

John Campbell, for one, has argued that the financial meltdown was itself a manifestation of the crisis of neoliberalism, in that defective understanding of markets led to the loosening of financial regulation and other trickle-up government policies—that ideas were just as important as the inertia inherent in institutions. Of course, Campbell tempers the analysis with the warning, “Despite theoretical arguments about the moment of crisis triggering radical change, many scholars now recognize that institutional change tends to be much more incremental even at historical junctures like this one.” Others were a bit less cautious. Yet, whether circumspect or perfervid, each crisis diagnostic held fast to the syllogism that people can learn from their mistakes; the deep contraction and financial breakdown stands as irrefutable evidence that neoliberalism is false; and therefore, neoliberalism must be on its last legs. That credo was the fuel of the machine that churned out reams of crisis commentary from 2008–10; it put the hi-fi in early litanies of financial reform. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 93

Categorization

• XREF: Foreshadows Mirowski’s core thesis (contradicting the ‘neoliberalism is dead’ chorus) that the reader is centrally tracking. — connects to: Neoliberalism’s survival after 2008 meant losing its unchallenged narrative, not its policy program. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 88; The 2008 crisis disoriented the left instead of vindicating its economic worldview — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 46; Observers widely expected the 2008 crash to refute neoliberal doctrine — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 80 (+4 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 93

Broader Connections

• Observers widely expected the 2008 crash to refute neoliberal doctrine #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 80
• The 2008 crisis disoriented the left instead of vindicating its economic worldview #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 46
• The 2008 crisis reinforced rather than refuted neoliberal and orthodox economic doctrine #contradicts (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 100
• Left parties struggled to comprehend the swift neoliberal resurgence after 2008 #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 9
• Neoliberalism’s scientific program collapsed under its own ideological contradictions #contradicts (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 92
• Crisis commentary from 2008-10 shared one syllogism, that failure proves neoliberalism dying #responds-to (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 93