Under a dozen prominent economists predicted the 2008 crisis and were ignored

Evidence

Fewer than a dozen prominent economists saw this economic train wreck coming — and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, an economist famous for his academic research on the Great Depression, was notably not among them. Alas, for the real world, the few who did warn us about the train wreck got no more respect from the rest of their colleagues or from decision-makers in business and government than prophets usually do. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 683

Categorization

• XREF: Sets up the later chapter discussions of how the economics profession’s internal machinery (replication, credentialing) punished crisis dissidents — connecting to the book’s institutionalist framing. — connects to: Economists who warned of a housing bubble were purged from Fed advisory positions — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 532; Economists had no consensus explanation for the 2008 financial crisis — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 448; Mainstream economists admit failure to predict the crisis but resist overhauling the discipline — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 517 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Mainstream economists admit failure to predict the crisis but resist overhauling the discipline #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 517
• Post-2008 economists saw speculation’s irrationality as recalibrating politics #responds-to (0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 97
• Economists lost control of crisis discourse to journalists—a sign of being caught unawares #exemplifies (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 464