Freudian Economy: Ego Defense Mechanisms

The modern epoch has witnessed only relatively stale analysis of economic functions, with tools of analysis regulated to the subject of economics itself.  If one takes a broader view of micro and macro behaviors of the market, it becomes obvious that its functions are based ultimately in human psychology and not externally objective laws.  It is evidenced, therefore, that the economy and current markets serve as aggregates of individual psychological properties, and as such an aggregate, can be said to function as a gigantic psyche itself.

Given that the economy works like a massive mind, we can draft new conclusions based in its psychology using tools of Freudian analysis, particularly those pertaining to ego defense mechanisms.  Therefore, it is our claim that the current economy is subject to exhibiting the features of sublimation, denial, repression, displacement, and projection.

A clear cut facet of sublimation as it operates in the market economy pertains to the trans-formative aspect of capitalism, and in particular, the propensity of human allurements, goods, services, and characteristics to be changed into commodities in order that they may be bought or sold.  A prevalent example that may be pointed to involves the propensity of subculture characteristics to be co-opted by profit-seekers in the market, ranging the spectrum from punk rock fashion and recordings to antagonistic political literature.  Sublimation of goods and ways of life that by themselves speak to values external to the market is facilitated by the unspoken corporate attitude that nearly anything may be bought and sold, leading to "counter-culture" markets that include such companies as Hot Topic and arguably even Urban Outfitters, which pander to the initial human desire to express uniqueness.  Subculture attitudes and expressions which ultimately have content that is antagonistic, transcendent, or apathetic towards economic operations are dealt with by the market in a manner that incorporates them into an acceptable feature of the current economic system through co-option and sublimation of their properties by transforming them into commodities, which is the main language of the market.

Denial is subsequently a resonant feature of the economic mind.  The most readily available example of denial in action pertains to the inability of the economy to deal with its own externalities, which take the form of such things as environmental, human, and financial damage.  The market and the economy continue to operate ceaselessly on its own unchallenged assumptions while arguably making the world unlivable through wars, resource exploitation, pollution, and labor exploitation.  The fact that it is possible for stock market traders to buy or sell silver while subsequently denying the conditions of communities which its mines have created for indigenous populations is specific evidence of the operations of denial, which appear as the prevailing feature of modern economic operations.

Another feature of the economic mind is its ability to invoke repression on a consistent basis.  When the market is up, histories of financial and economic disasters are conveniently forgotten, and often even the policies that have safeguarded against market depressions are absconded with during these periods of prosperity, as may be seen in the Bush administrations move to privatize enormous sectors of the economy, which may be currently responsible for the wide-spread recession we are experiencing.  Negative periods, depressions, recessions, and panics are not dealt with by upper-echelon executives or marketers, leading one to the conclusion that these periods of calamity have been repressed by the economic mind.

The need for the market to take out impulses on less offensive targets, or displacement, is also a widespread consequence of its operation.  This may be seen recently in the actions of banks making predatory loans to low-income people who desired housing, and the mass foreclosure rate that ensued.  It can be argued that it is the fundamental nature of the current economy to act in an aggressive manner in terms of seeking profit, and that furthermore, this aggressive nature is most frequently levied on the poor and oppressed people of the world, as they lack the power of political lobbying or the financial power necessary to pursue counter-actions in the event of victimization at the hands of corporate or financial entities.  Displacement is a consistent facet of the economy's actions, who's players maliciously seek profit and power over easy and readily available targets.

The use of projection by the capitalist economy was utilized in a widespread fashion during the Cold War, where unacceptable impulses were placed on the motivations, constructions, features, and philosophies of the Communist World.  The subsequent dehumanization of communists (in particular, the Vietnamese) which took place were varied forms of projection that had been incorporated into the capitalist market in order to serve the values of market production and expansion, which were witnessed in the marketing of Coca Cola in Saigon and more generally in the desire for communism to be abolished if only so that the communist nations may form new markets for growth and expansion.  As a tactic of the economic psychology, communists were much maligned, and the dangerous impulses of the capitalist system were invariably projected upon people who, in general, simply lived under a different economic system.


In conclusion, it can be said that the current economy and market are highly criticizable, given the widespread activities of Freudian ego-defense mechanisms which inundate its behaviors.  It is not far-fetched to consider the economy as a troubled mind, in vast need of extensive therapies and changes, in order that it will not only abscond from the usage of ego-defense mechanisms, but also so that the quality of human experience witnessed while living under its rather dubious features may be dramatically improved.  It is our hopes that through the view of the economy as an ailing mind, that its questionable aspects may be dramatically improved through corrective and therapeutic measures.