After the financial crisis of 2007-08, countless "experts" took to social media explaining how the crash was inevitable and that everyone should have seen it coming. This is an example of:

• A. Hindsight bias
• B. Availability bias
• C. Self-serving bias
• D. Optimism bias

Answer: (A)

Hindsight bias is the tendency to see events as having been predictable after they occur, making people feel the outcome was obvious all along. In this scenario, after the financial crisis, experts argued it was inevitable and that everyone should have seen it coming. That framing fits hindsight bias because the outcome is recast as predictable in hindsight, even if predicting it beforehand was not clear. This differs from availability bias, which would rely on how easily similar events come to mind; self-serving bias involves taking credit or shifting blame, and optimism bias is about expecting more favorable outcomes.