The 1987 crash memory persists institutionally even as living memory fades

Evidence

Individual memory of the 1987 crash and of the possible systemic risks posed by put sales is fading as older traders are replaced by a new generation. However, there is a sense in which that memory has been institutionalized in the U.S. options markets’ risk-management systems. One delicious nuance is that part of that institutionalized memory is now Mandelbrot’s Levy distributions, which were, as discussed in chapter 4, the “path not taken” by financial economics. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 935

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Personal memories persist long after a person’s physical death. — Lynch, Thomas, The undertaking-life studies from the…, 615; Memory benefits from narrative, logical structure rather than disjointed facts — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4586; The Muselmänner remain sites of memory despite leaving no trace (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Master-narratives persist unconsciously rather than disappearing outright #corroborates (0.78) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 43
• Widespread crash fears created a self-fulfilling prophecy in October 1987 #responds-to (0.74) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 859
• Personal memories persist long after a person’s physical death. #expands (0.72) — Lynch, Thomas, The undertaking-life studies from the…, 615
• Memory benefits from narrative, logical structure rather than disjointed facts #qualifies (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4586
• The Muselmänner remain sites of memory despite leaving no trace #epitomizes (0.72)
• The 1987 crash’s real effects persisted beneath an outwardly limited economic surface #complicates (0.72) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 894