AbstractRead it at SAGE
In this theoretically informed study I explore the broader cultural changes that created the conditions for the credit crisis of 2008. Drawing on psychoanalysis and its application to organizational and social dynamics, I develop a theoretical framework around the notion of a manic culture, comprised of four aspects: denial; omnipotence; triumphalism; and over-activity. I then apply this to the credit crisis and argue that the events of 2008 were preceded by an incubation period lasting for over two decades during which a culture of mania developed. Then, focusing especially on the Japanese and South East Asia/LTCM crises, I argue that a series of major ruptures in capitalism during this incubation period served not as warnings, but as opportunities for a manic response, thereby dramatically increasing the risks involved. I also argue that this mania was triggered and strengthened by triumphant feelings in the West over the collapse of communism. I suggest therefore that this manic culture played a significant role in creating the conditions for the problems that led to the credit crisis.
A culture of mania: a psychoanalytic view of the incubation of the 2008 credit crisis
by Mark Stein | School of Management, University of Leicester
How's that for "irrational exuberance"?
How's that for "irrational exuberance"?
The paper is a free download in PDF.
2 comments:
Silliness. Capitalism is inherently disposed toward predatory behavior. If you take the locks off the cages and let the predators out, they will do exactly what they did in the pre-2008 period. The predators are still running wild.
It's interesting the opposite of manic boom periods are called "depressions" er sounds like manic depression, perhaps the markets need some lithium.
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