It was like the emperor has no clothes. Here we were told all these things - globalization, automation, deregulation - this was going to get rid of all the dirty work for us, but we were going to get all the good jobs and we were going to maintain out standard of living or get wealthier. And you could shop till you dropped, you could run up your credit card and the market was infallible, and it was better to market than manufacture, and it was better to use credit than to save. It was a whole culture for 25 to 30 years, and all of a sudden it had been stripped naked. And it was like all of a sudden it was an illusion; it was all a fantasy. Again, clothes were a methodology; they were a metaphor for that world.
— Even Levin
