Zócalo Public Square

From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to fearful mistrust of capital markets, powerful psychological forces seem to be endangering the global economy. Are so-called “animal spirits” — the term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom that led to the Great Depression and the psychological shift that pulled us out of it — behind today’s financial crisis? George Akerlof, a Nobel laureate, and Yale University economics professor Robert Shiller visit Zócalo to discuss overconfidence in capitalism, modern snake-oil salesmen, and how to fix the economy to ease the influence of each.