Oz: The Great and Powerful (film), 172
Palme, Olof, 48–49
panic: at beginning of World War I, 93–94; creation of Federal Reserve and, 117; in financial crisis,
55–56, 86; following complacency, 55–56; Great Depression seen as, 128; inflation in 1970s and,
262; stock prices and, 228. See also bank runs; fear; financial panic narrative
Panic of 1907, 94, 111, 115, 117, 118f
Part of Our Time (Kempton), 230–31
Patel, Aniruddh, 35
Pathways Back to Prosperity (Baker), 210
patriotic appeal of a narrative, 101, 102–3
Paul, Ron, 156
Pavlov, Ivan P., 56
Pearl Harbor attack, memories of hearing about, 81–82
Penfield, Wilder, 53–54
perennial narratives, 107–8; nine major examples of, 113, 266–67 (see also specific examples); as
works in progress, 276
permanent-income hypothesis, 307n3
“permanently high plateau,” 75–76
phantasies of Melanie Klein, 15
The Philosophy of Honest Poverty, 150
phishing equilibrium, 61
phools, 61, 62
Piketty, Thomas, 150, 210–11
Piore, Michael, 281
Plath, Robert, 38, 39
Plato, 34
policy: formulating with knowledge of narratives, 3, 287. See also monetary policy
policymakers: creating and disseminating counternarratives, 278; narrative studies to infer
motivations of, 281, 321n14
poliomyelitis enterovirus epidemic, 295–96
Pollack, Andrew, 204
Polletta, Francesca, 32
Pomperipossa in the World of Money (Lindgren), 49
Ponzi, Charles, 220–21
Ponzi scheme, 220
populism: inflation after World War I and, 245; opposition to gold standard and, 166
portfolio insurance, 93
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 57
“postwar,” 242–43
Pound, John, 298
poverty: decreasing basic-needs charity in today’s US, 272; Depression-era attitudes toward, 143;
Dust Bowl and, 131; nineteenth-century moral views of, 117; technological advances creating, 178
poverty-chic culture, 143, 148, 149
power age, 183
predicting economic events. See economic forecasting
Prescott, Edward C., 24
price controls, in US after World War II, 255
price per acre, references to, 214
price setting: interviews of executives about, 281. See also wage-price spiral narrative

prison inmates, telling stories, 15
professional narratives, xiii
profiteer narrative, 241–43, 243f, 246–49; abrupt end of 1920–21 depression and, 250–51; falling
consumer prices and, 243–44; inflation after World War I and, 245, 265. See also excess profits
profits, corporate: taxes on, 45, 48; viral narratives associated with, 47–48
Progress and Poverty (George), 111, 178–79, 188, 209, 310n1
property taxes, taxpayer revolt focused on, 50
Proposition 13, 50
Propp, Vladimir, 16
ProQuest News & Newspapers, x
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph, 6
prudent person rule, 37
Prum, Richard O., 65
psychoanalysis and narrative, 15, 16, 280
Psychological Economics (Katona), 66
psychological impact of opinion leaders, 127
Psychologie des foules (The Crowd) (Le Bon), 59, 119
psychology and narrative, 15, 65–67, 78, 287
The Psychology of Suggestion (Sidis), 121
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), 57
Public Opinion Research Archive, 284
purchasing power theory of wages, 188
push a button, 179, 200
Putin, Vladimir, 103
qualitative research, 281
quarantines, 19–20
quasi-controlled experiments, 73
questionnaire surveys, 285–86
Rand, Ayn, 50
random events with major effects, 40, 75, 99–100
randomness of which narratives go viral, 31, 40, 64–65, 286
random walk theory of speculative prices, xiii
rational expectations models, 277, 295, 301n13
Reagan, Ronald, xii, 42, 51–52, 153
Reagan administration, tax cuts by, 48, 51
real business cycle model, 24–25, 27f
real estate boom in 2000s: automation narratives and, 205; Trump University and, 226. See also
housing booms
real estate narratives, 212. See also home price narratives
real estate speculation: in second half of twentieth century, 213. See also home price narratives
Rebel Without a Cause (film), 148
recessions: in 1949, 256, 264; in 1950s and 1960s, 199, 200–201, 264; in 1957–58, 201, 264; in
1973–75, 239, 256–57; in 1980 and 1981–82, 204; in 2001, ended after terrorist attack, 82–83,
307n17; biggest in US since 1973, 112; causes listed by economic historians, 112; consumer
confidence narrative and, 115; economists’ reluctance to mention narratives underlying, 276;
narrative infecting fraction of population and, 29; as narratives in themselves, 112; not successfully
forecast, xiv, 301n6; popular belief in periodic nature of, 124–25; popular stories affecting, xii;
reasons for hesitating to spend during, 75; self-fulfilling prophecy in forecasts of, 123–24, 125