Framing the global economic downturn : crisis rhetoric and the politics of recessions / edited by Paul 't Hart and Karen Tindall.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hart, Paul 't, editor.

Tindall, Karen, editor.

Series:

Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Financial crises.

Globalization--Economic aspects.

Globalization.

Bankruptcy--International cooperation.

Bankruptcy.

Crises management--Political aspects.

Crises management.

Political leadership.

Public administration--Decision making.

Public administration.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (362 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Canberra, ACT, Australia : ANU E Press, [2009]

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The global economic downturn that followed the collapse of major US financial institutions is no doubt the most significant crisis of our times. Its effects on corporate and governmental balance sheets have been devastating, as have been its impacts on the employment and well being of tens of millions of citizens. It continues to pose major challenges to national policymakers and institutions around the world. Managing public uncertainty and anxiety is vital in coping with financial crises. This requires not just prompt action but, most of all, persuasive communication by government leaders. At the same time, the very occurrence of such crises raises acute questions about the effectiveness and robustness of current government policies and institutions. With the stakes being so high, defining and interpreting what is going on, how and why it happened, and what ought to be done now become key questions in the political and policy struggles that crises invariably unleash. In this volume, we study how heads of government, finance ministers and national bank governors in eight countries as well as the EU engage in such ‘framing contests’, and how their attempts to interpret the cascading events of the economic downturn were publicly received. Using systematic content analysis of speeches and media coverage, this volume offers a unique comparative assessment of public leadership in times of crisis.

Contents:

The contributors; Part I. Setting the stage; 1. From 'market correction' to 'global catastrophe': framing the economic downturn; 1. Economic rhetoric in times of turbulence; 2. A leadership perspective on economic crisis management; 3. Meaning making in economic crises: frames and counter-frames; 4. Overview and acknowledgments; References; 2. Understanding crisis exploitation: leadership, rhetoric and framing contests in response to the economic meltdown; 1. Crises as political battlegrounds; 2. Dissecting framing contests; The first framing contest: severity-ripple or crisis?

The second framing contest: causality-incident or symptom?The third framing contest: the political game-blameworthy or not?; The fourth framing contest: the policy game-maintain or change policy commitments?; 3. Crisis rhetoric and framing contests in the media arena; 4. Studying framing contests during the economic meltdown: design and methods; References; Part II. One crisis, different worlds: the United States and Canada; 3. The United States: crisis leadership in times of transition; 1. Going down: the escalation of the sub-prime mortgage crisis; 2. Methodological considerations

3. Crisis development and elite rhetoric in the United StatesFrom crisis to opportunity: Presidents Bush and Obama; 14 March 2008: President Bush's 'business as usual'; 24 September 2008: Bush's acknowledgment of deep problems; 4 February 2009: President Obama blames Wall Street; 24 February 2009: Obama's address to Congress; From reassurance to repair: Treasury Secretaries Paulson and Geithner; 26 March 2008: Secretary Paulson's innuendo; 18 November 2008: Paulson's switch to crisis mode; 10 February 2009: Secretary Geithner's historical analogy

26 March 2009: Geithner's testimony to the House of RepresentativesBack to the Depression? Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke; 14 March 2008: Bernanke's response to Bear Stearns' collapse; 1 December 2008: Bernanke's acknowledgment of crisis; 18 February 2009: Bernanke after the presidential transition; 10 March 2009: Bernanke acknowledges internal factors; 4. Conclusions: the limits of crisis management by speech; References; 4. Canada: the politics of optimism; 1. Warranted optimism or an illusion of invulnerability?; 2. Methodological considerations

3. Crisis development and elite rhetoric in Canada12 May 2008: the Finance Minister's assertion of Canadian resilience; 25 September 2008: bank governor Carney's crisis narrative; 7 October 2008: Prime Minister Harper's bid for re-election; 17 October 2008: a re-elected Harper opens the new Parliament; 27 January 2009: Finance Minister Flaherty's budget speech; 10 February 2009: bank governor Carney's 'realism'; 23 February 2009: Flaherty attempts to rally the public; 10 March 2009: Harper's continued optimism; 1 April 2009: the bank governor sees light at the end of the tunnel

4. Framing the financial crisis in Canada: analysis and conclusions

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed October 12, 2016).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781921666056

1921666056

Publisher Number:

10.26530/OAPEN_459240