Constructing History: How Will We Remember the Financial Crisis?

Andrew Lo at MIT has just published a very comprehensive review of 21 of the most widely read books on the financial crisis.  His most striking observation (one I share having read 14 of the 21 books) is that there is almost no consensus among authors in terms of the narrative and the facts.  If anything the dissimilarities are striking. On this point Lo writes:

...there is still significant disagreement as to what the underlying causes of the crisis were, and even less agreement as to what to do about it. But what may be more disconcerting for most economists is the fact that we can’t even agree on all the facts. 

I guess, as Oscar Wilde once said, "The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it". But Lo's review should remind us of the ongoing battle to win this important narrative.

And make no mistake, it is an outright war. Like all other wars, each side strives to compel the others to submit to its will. The aim is total and lasting defeat.  But instead of uniformed troops, rousing speeches from heads of state, and blood shed, there are sweater vests, speeches made in calm logic, and the fear of being marked 'irrelevant.' One might mistake such a thing as a "war for truth", but it's not about discovering what actually happened. It's simply about what will be remembered as the truth.