The Strange Non-Crisis of Economics Economic Crisis and Crisis Policies in Economic and Political Discourses
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The strange non-crisis of economics Economic crisis and crisis policies in economic and political discourses Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr.rer.soc.oec. im Doktoratsstudium Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz angefertigt am Institut für die Gesamtanalyse der Wirtschaft (ICAE) Eingereicht von: MMag. Stephan Pühringer Betreut von: Erstbetreuer: Univ. Prof. Dr. Walter O. Ötsch Zweitbetreuer: PD Dr. Jakob Kapeller Linz, Oktober 2015 Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria, www.jku.at Eidesstattliche Erklärung Ich erkläre an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertation selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt bzw. die wörtlich oder sinngemäß entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die vorliegende Dissertation ist mit dem elektronisch übermittelten Textdokument identisch. Linz, Oktober 2015 ___________________________________ i Acknowledgements This doctoral thesis was prepared from 2012 to 2015 at the Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy (ICAE) at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. The institute was founded in 2009 after the outbreak of the financial crisis as an interdisciplinary research institute, based on the conviction that the severe economic crisis of 2008ff. has to be interpreted as a crisis of the scientific discipline of economics, too. Therefore the question of the causes as well as the political and societal consequences of the crisis need to be addressed by a combination of economic, political and sociological approaches. This interdisciplinary atmosphere at the ICAE offered me an inspiring environment to develop and discuss my ideas. First and foremost my gratitude goes to my first supervisor and “academic teacher” Walter Ötsch, who supported me constantly over the last years. He provided me with a large degree of freedom and opened new perspectives for my research. With his open-minded approach to the scope and limits of economics, his critical attitude regarding recent developments in economic research as well as his broad knowledge about the cultural history of economic thought he offered me a possibility for reflection and discussion of my work. Furthermore he supported me also on a personal level, when I was confronted with fundamental critique for not applying econometric methodology. I am very thankful to my second supervisor Jakob Kapeller, as well. With his enormous research experience and broad expertise he often helped me to concretize and clarify my arguments and direct my research in new directions. Moreover he always took the time to discuss my papers in early stage and provided me with valuable comments and suggestions. During the preparation of my doctoral thesis I benefited a lot from discussions with my colleagues at the University of Linz and especially in the ICAE, including Katrin Hirte, who also co-authored one of the papers of my thesis, Karl Beyer, Lars Bräutigam, Markus Griesser, Wolfgang Plaimer, Andreas Reichl, as well as Carina Altreiter, Alexander Belabed, Christa Stelzer-Orthofer and Markus Pühringer. Günter Sageder supported my research and always offered me a helping hand. I would have never been able to prepare and finish my thesis without the massive support of my family and friends. My parents Irmgard and Georg, my brother Markus and my sisters Maria, Gertrude and Michaela and their families have always offered me a place of warmth and love and supported me in several ways during my life. I ii also want to thank friends like Berndi, Chrisi, Thomas, Katin, Michi, Georg, Patrick, Maxi, Andi or my volleyball colleagues, with whom I spent many hours talking, discussing, practicing sports or simply having a good time together. My deepest gratitude goes to me beloved Judith, Sophie, Miriam and later also Xaver. Their encouragement, great emotional support and love showed me that there are much more important things in life than being successful in academia. iii Content Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 References ............................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2: The financial crisis as a heart attack .................................................. 11 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 12 1 Metaphors of economists and economists in the media ............................ 15 2 Methodological framework and research design ........................................ 18 3 Course of the public discourse on the financial crisis ............................... 21 4 Discussion: Real world events, thinking styles and metaphors ................ 31 5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 38 References .......................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3: Markets as ultimate judges of economic policies ............................. 43 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 44 1 The interconnectedness of political and discursive power balances and the specific role of language ............................................................................. 46 2 Methodological framework and research design ........................................ 48 3 Crisis narratives and its consequences for the European crisis policy.... 50 3.1 Causes and characterization of the crisis .................................................... 51 3.2 Consequences of the crisis for economic policies ....................................... 52 4 The logic of the market in crisis policy ........................................................ 53 4.1 The impact of distinct market narratives on economic policies .................... 53 4.2 Market narratives and market metaphors in Merkel’s speeches .................. 55 5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 58 References .......................................................................................................... 59 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 62 iv Chapter 4: “Harte” Sanktionen für budgetpolitische “Sünder” .......................... 64 Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................. 64 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 65 Einleitung ............................................................................................................ 66 1 Fiskalpakt als Symbol politischer Machtverschiebung? ............................ 69 1.1 Entstehungsgeschichte und historische Verortung des Fiskalpaktes ..... 71 1.2 Kritische Reflexion der Vertragsinhalte der Fiskalpakts .......................... 73 2 Methodische Herangehensweise .................................................................. 78 3 Die Implementierung des Fiskalpakts im öffentlichen Diskurs .................. 81 3.1 Quantitative und qualitative Analyse des Diskursverlaufs in österreichischen Medien.................................................................................................................. 81 3.2 Dominante Argumentationsmuster und Diskursprofile ................................. 87 4 Fazit ................................................................................................................. 96 Quellen ................................................................................................................ 98 Chapter 5: „Performativer Fußabdruck“ als Maß für Wirkmächtigkeit und Einfluss von ÖkonomInnen auf Politik und Gesellschaft ................................. 101 Abstract ............................................................................................................. 101 1 Entwicklung der wirtschaftspolitischen Einflussnahme von ÖkonomInnen in Deutschland .................................................................................................. 102 2 Performative Wirkung ökonomischen Wissens ........................................ 107 3 Einflusspotenziale von ÖkonomInnen auf Politik und Gesellschaft........ 110 3.1 Wissenschaftliche Publikationen und akademische Reputation ................ 110 3.2 Akademische Reproduktion ....................................................................... 119 3.3 Präsenz im öffentlichen Diskurs ................................................................ 124 3.4 Wirtschaftspolitische Beratungstätigkeit, politiknahe Institutionen und unmittelbares politisches Engagement ............................................................... 127 4 Methodik und Operationalisierung eines Performativen Fußabdrucks von ÖkonomInnen ................................................................................................... 131 v 4.1 Wissenschaftlicher Produktionskoeffizient ................................................. 133 4.2 Wissenschaftlicher Reproduktionskoeffizient ............................................ 134 4.3 Medialer Präsenzkoeffizient ...................................................................... 135 4.4