According to the Washington Post, Senator Charles Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, asked Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, to render his opinion about the necessity of dispersing 700 billion dollars of the bailout plan all at once. Bernanke danced around the question until "Schumer tried it another way: ‘Just from your knowledge as an economist...even if $700 billion is advisable, do you think $150 billion is insufficient to assure the markets that Congress is serious and the government is serious?''" Bernanke responded: "You asked me about my training as an economist; this is a matter for psychology. What signal, what information would the markets get that the government is addressing the problem" if the government bailout arrives in installments, Bernanke asked."
Well, I'm a psychologist, and I believe I actually do know what's wrong with the way the government is handling the economic crisis. As happens in any disaster, the economic meltdown is giving rise to a frightening excess of scapegoating. Anyone responsible for creating this mess wants to assign blame to someone else. In a speech about the current state of affairs, President Bush blames Congress, especially the Democrats. In fact, in a recent speech on the economy,Bush used the word blame twenty one times in three minutes. Finding a scapegoat is a way to project one's own feelings of culpability, anger, shame, ineptitude and self-criticality onto another person or institution. Every day in my therapy practice I interrupt couples playing "the blame game." I hear patients demonizing parents, teachers, friends and lovers in order to not look at his or her responsibility for their problems. We don't need to be taught how to blame others; it's instinctual. We want to ward off any criticality when we feel shame about our actions. Scapegoating is a psychological problem. In the case of our economy, it's reflective of the psychological defense mechanisms of projection, projective identification and avoidance.
We have a cast of characters and institutions in America so involved with disavowing greed and assigning blame that nothing gets solved. It's like a bunch of bickering children. Bush blames Congress, Congress blames Bush. Wall Street blames Bush and Congress, Republicans and Democrats blame each other: all concerned are finding scapegoats who they say are culpable for this lingering calamity. Whether this was an individual, couple or family session in my office, I would attack the scapegoating heads on and explain the wisdom of ending the blame game. Like any couple or family, nothing in our economy will be resolved until all concerned can say something such as: "I like all of you have had a hand in creating this mess. Now let's get together and work together to move past this mess.
A troubled marriage devolves into a blame orgy. Unless the partners can cooperate and each take personal responsibility to strengthen their relationship, they will end up divorcing or making each other's lives a living hell. Congress, the Executive Branch, Wall Street, and Banks: none of them can divorce each other without the American economy falling apart. If they don't stop the blame game and learn to work cooperatively and end this crisis, the Psychologists know that scapegoating won't save the economy. The American public will end up like the married couple whose life has become a living hell. Perhaps the only solution, as Bernanke suggests, is for all concerned to have a session with a psychologist who can help them understand that blame will not restore confidence in the economy. Confidence is built with right actions, not accusation. We psychologists know that. We know the danger of assigning blame to others. We know that individual and institutional accountability builds confidence. We can then explain to Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Paulson, Bush, Congress and Wall Street that confidence entails maturity, positive actions and cooperation. In the words of Stephen S. Roach, an economist who does understand the psychological solution to the crisis: "Enough Scapegoating."
