The financial meltdown of 2008, which soon metamorphosed into the deepest Western economic recession since the 1930’s, added fuel to the fire, as policymakers hunkered down in a non-transparent crisis-management mode, condoning massive state intervention in the economy and socialization of private-sector losses on a previously unprecedented scale. The resulting fiscal austerity plunged many below the poverty line and accelerated economic inequality, while many private institutions, having caused the 2008 bust, recovered on the public dime.
2008年的金融危机很快蜕变为20世纪30年代以来西方最严重的经济衰退，进一步加剧了对西方民主制度的怀疑，因为决策者采用完全不透明的危机管理模式，以前所未有的规模将私有部门应该承担的损失推向社会，纵容对经济实行大规模的国家干预。由此造成的财政紧缩加剧了经济不平等，导致很多人跌落到贫困线以下，而很多造成2008年萧条的私营机构却利用公共经费迅速恢复了元气。