The 2008 crisis briefly turned mainstream economics criticism into a mass public phenomenon

Evidence

Economists were not of a temperament to suffer what they deemed the New Disrespect lying down. Anyhow, it was proving galling to turn the other cheek when reputable news outlets were sneering “What Good Are Economists, Anyway?” (Coy) and “What Went Wrong with Economics?” (Economist), and books from reputable publishers were quick off the mark trumpeting “The Myth of the Rational Market” (Fox) and “A Failure of Capitalism” (Posner). “Is it fair to attack the economics profession? To a large degree, yes.” People were of course always welcome to mock at economists in private, which was nothing new, but this seemed to be a different sort of animal. Remonstrants flocked to the talk shows, the newspapers, magazines, and op-ed pages; but beyond that, they also entered the blogosphere in a big way for perhaps the first time. Not only did a range of hallowed Big Names begin posting regular blogs, but so did some previously unsung economics faculty, and more significantly, tyro students of the subject. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 452

Categorization

• QUESTION: What is the ‘Notre Dame economist’ referred to in later paragraphs, and what did he claim?
• XREF: The blogosphere moment for economics criticism connects to the broader story of how institutions co-opt and channel public critique — relevant to the NTC thought-collective theme. — connects to: The 2008 crisis was nonlinear and multicausal, leaving it overexplained and overdetermined — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 74; The 2008 crisis briefly revived Keynesian fiscal stimulus across academia and institutions — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 159; Mainstream business media turned openly hostile to economics after 2008 — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 444