In his recent paper entitled A culture of mania: a psychoanalytic view of the incubation of the 2008 credit crisis , Professor Mark Stein develops a theoretical framework around the notion of a manic culture, comprised of four aspects: denial; omnipotence; triumphalism; and over-activity.
“A series of major ruptures in capitalist economies were observed and noted by those in positions of economic and political leadership in Western societies,” he said. “These ruptures caused considerable anxiety among these leaders, but rather than heeding the lessons, they responded by manic, omnipotent and triumphant attempts to prove the superiority of their economies.”
All four of these of these manic qualities were apparent in the Australian treasurer last week “The doomsayers have been proved to be completely and absolutely wrong,” Mr Swan said . Just as Australia faces a significant slowing of the Australian property bubble, together with significant signs of trouble within all our trading partners and a continuing European debt crisis , the treasurer stands resplendent in triumphant denial .
