Where are all those free-market economists who caused the financial crisis? [new The Good Life column]

The opening of my latest column at EveryJoe:

“A common meme about the financial crisis blames it on capitalism run amok and holds the rise of free-market fundamentalism among economists responsible for unleashing the greed. Academic economists, the argument runs, are largely free-marketers, and they convinced politicians to deregulate important swathes of the American economy, and the unbridled capitalists then engaged in a feeding frenzy that led to the collapse. Let’s call that meme ‘The Narrative.’

“Tiny elements of The Narrative are true: there are some free-market economists, there have been some deregulations, and some capitalists have behaved badly. … [Read more here.]

the-good-life-finance

Last week’s column: Who Really Wants to Solve the Problem of Poverty?

1 thought on “Where are all those free-market economists who caused the financial crisis? [new The Good Life column]”

  1. A perennial paradigm: state interference in the market leads to an undesirable result that is blamed on freedom creating a clamor for more interference that leads to yet more undesirable results creating a clamor for yet more interference, etc.

    But if freedom under the rule of law – not to be confused with anarchy – is the culprit, why the hesitant, piecemeal approach? Let’s adopt comprehensive socialism. Though we’d have to decide which model is preferable e.g. Hitler’s, Stalin’s, Mao’s, Pol Pot’s…

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