Participants’ causal beliefs shape their subsequent trading behavior

Evidence

The question of what caused the crash of October 19 was important as events unfolded, not just retrospectively: how participants behaved on the Tuesday and Wednesday was affected by their beliefs as to the cause of Monday’s events. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 863

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the performativity thesis — economic actors’ beliefs about models matter; echoes Keynesian ‘animal spirits’ and sociological accounts of crisis sensemaking.