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Abstract
As regular followers of the Naked Capitalism blog will appreciate, its founder Yves Smith has never been slow to condemn bankers or regulators. But in her own extended account of the crisis, Econned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism, Smith dug below the surface to identify the influence of economists and flawed economic theories on policy-making. The causes of this financial crisis should not be sought merely among the actions of particular individuals and companies, but also among the ideas that made it possible, she wrote. In many ways, Smith is more qualified to write the story of the crisis than journalists, academics or practitioners still working within the industry in some capacity. She has an insider's knowledge of the financial sector, having worked in it for several years. Smith acknowledges Wall Street has never been a charity, but the does believe that in recent years the prevailing philosophy of "long-term greed" has been replaced by something altogether more damaging.
