Economists were not of a temperament to suffer what they deemed the New Disrespect lying down. Anyhow, it was proving galling to turn the other cheek when reputable news outlets were sneering "What Good Are Economists, Anyway?" (Coy) and "What Went Wrong with Economics?" (Economist), and books from reputable publishers were quick off the mark trumpeting "The Myth of the Rational Market" (Fox) and "A Failure of Capitalism" (Posner). "Is it fair to attack the economics profession? To a large degree, yes." People were of course always welcome to mock at economists in private, which was nothing new, but this seemed to be a different sort of animal. Remonstrants flocked to the talk shows, the newspapers, magazines, and op-ed pages; but beyond that, they also entered the blogosphere in a big way for perhaps the first time. Not only did a range of hallowed Big Names begin posting regular blogs, but so did some previously unsung economics faculty, and more significantly, tyro students of the subject.

Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis …, loc. 452