The left’s reliance on orthodox economics enabled its co-optation by neoliberalism

Evidence

Heartfelt exhortations of “End This Depression Now!” have become sure signs of chicanery, the half-disguised theurgy of an often shadowy clique of economists. The neoliberals have triumphed in the face of this cacophony, at least in part, because their nominal opponents and their nostrums have proven so clueless. The resistance to the neoliberal tide has repeatedly looked to orthodox economics for succor, and it has betrayed them time and again. Beyond orthodoxy, even the intellectual case for a return to Keynes, or Marx, or Minsky as a panacea for the crisis has proven thin and insubstantial. Not only does the left lack a clear agenda for their own political objectives, but they have repeatedly mistaken or misunderstood the nature of the neoliberal political project, and consequently found themselves co-opted into it, or worse. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 901

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Central thesis mechanics: opposition failure is explained as epistemic capture, not just political defeat — the left borrowed the tools of the enemy.
• ADDENDUM: Extends the ‘thought collective’ analysis to show how resistance becomes absorbed rather than merely defeated.
• XREF: connects to: Even anti-neoliberal orthodox economists now operate inside the profession’s neoliberal frame — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2011; Left economists’ voluntary adherence to orthodoxy explains the left’s failure post-2008. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 58; Neoliberals co-opt left critiques to discredit even market-based ethical consumption. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 411 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Bifurcating politics and economics undermines left critique of neoliberalism #corroborates (0.85) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 431