Why do we blame individuals for economic crises? | Liene Ozolina

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. In 2008, the global financial crisis decimated Latvia. As unemployment skyrocketed, the government slashed public funding and raised taxes, while providing relief to the wealthy and large businesses — all without backlash or protest from struggling citizens. Sociologist Liene Ozoliņa examines how Latvian officials convinced their people to accept responsibility for the country’s failing economy — and highlights the rise of similar social policies upholding inequality worldwide. The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. Follow TED on Twitter: Like TED on Facebook: Subscribe to our channel: TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at