The 2008 crisis disoriented the left instead of vindicating its economic worldview

Evidence

The Great Contraction has completely wrong-footed people who used to be called “socialists” or “progressives,” confounding every expectation that they had finally achieved some small measure of vindication for their understanding of the economy. It ushered in a mongrel regime leaving them baffled and bewildered, such that one frequently heard them wonder out loud whether there was any left left. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 46

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of how crises are converted into ideological victories; echoes Mirowski’s argument that failures are repackaged rather than learned from. — connects to: The German left endorsed hard-core austerity, seeing crisis as necessary correction — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 531; The 2008 crisis invalidated the preceding thirty years of financial orthodoxy — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 133; The Great Moderation consensus collapsed in 2008 exactly as Austrian theory predicted — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 387 (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• The 2008 crisis was expected to falsify neoliberal doctrine but did not #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 80
• Left economists’ voluntary adherence to orthodoxy explains the left’s failure post-2008. #expands (0.82) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 58
• The 2008 crisis failed to produce a paradigmatic shift comparable to the New Deal. #corroborates (0.80) — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 115
• Opponents of neoliberalism could not locate the intellectual roots of the 2008 crisis #corroborates (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 16
• Cognitive dissonance drives economists and neoliberals to treat crisis as reinforcing their beliefs #expands (0.75)