Left economists’ voluntary adherence to orthodoxy explains the left’s failure post-2008.

Evidence

I am sure Quiggin didn’t intend it, but this came too perilously close to Margaret Thatcher’s “There Is No Alternative” for comfort. These notions that serious intellectual work outside well-worn paths sanctioned by the established disciplines has often proven ineffectual when it comes to political rough and tumble; that every valid critique of neoclassical economics has already been made by someone else long ago and, furthermore, has been adequately absorbed by the cognoscenti; that you must voluntarily shackle yourself to the tropes of the modern economic orthodoxy if you have pretentions to be taken seriously; and that every doctrine should be judged in a cod–John Dewey fashion by its immediate proximate uses—all constitute major impediments to understanding how the left has failed in the current crisis. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 58

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the ‘thought collective’ mechanism: exclusion from epistemic community coerces conformity to shared tropes, not just ideas — same logic Mirowski applies to scientists and economists alike. — connects to: The 2008 crisis strengthened rather than weakened the political right — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 8; Left parties struggled to comprehend the swift neoliberal resurgence after 2008 — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 9; The 2008 crisis disoriented the left instead of vindicating its economic worldview — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 46 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The left’s reliance on orthodox economics enabled its co-optation by neoliberalism #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 901
• French economists rejected Keynesianism as illegitimate from a left-wing perspective #exemplifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 298
• After 2008 the neoliberal thought collective intensified capture of economics #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 975
• Bifurcating politics and economics undermines left critique of neoliberalism #corroborates (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 431
• The Right’s rise depends structurally on the Left’s failure in power. #corroborates (0.70)