I've heard that theory posed before. I'm a little skeptical just based on the fact that the Soviet Union seems to be a credible threat in the popular imagination until 1989 and coked up finance bro is kind of THE meme of the 80s and wages get decoupled from productivity well before 1989.
@Matt5sean3 @chrisisgr8 Hmmm. I have to counter that it was precisely the economics on steroids the Chicago school was pushing that ultimately turned the tide of the public's imagination. We were just slow to understand what the banksters were up to. I mean, Freidman got his Nobel in 1976. By the early 80's the "big brains" saw the writing on the wall -- that western ideology was winning the battle for hearts and minds. Reagan felt bold enough to break up the Air Traffic controllers in 1981.It seems to track pretty well with that timeline.
Apropos of nothing, I did a bit of web searching and found the following link. I've read other Mirowski writings, such as More Heat Than Light. He's a gem.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/9780674495111-005/html?lang=en
@Matt5sean3 @chrisisgr8 Hmmm. I have to counter that it was precisely the economics on steroids the Chicago school was pushing that ultimately turned the tide of the public's imagination. We were just slow to understand what the banksters were up to. I mean, Freidman got his Nobel in 1976. By the early 80's the "big brains" saw the writing on the wall -- that western ideology was winning the battle for hearts and minds. Reagan felt bold enough to break up the Air Traffic controllers in 1981.It seems...