Après moi, le stimulus

"How to judge," asked the Sun King of France,
"The success of job stimulus plans?
Après le déluge,
Not just 'jobs in the bush,'
One must keep those one has in one's hands."

Who Do You Blame?

On Washington's Sunday talk circuit
Big names are expected to work it
At the risk of suspicion
Many take a position
Assuming they later can shirk it.

- or -

By now it's abundantly clear
Under Washington's culture of fear
Some political hacks
Hid their sneaky attacks
While they ran up more debt every year.

An Alleged Violation of the Securities Act of 1934

"Find an edge!" bellowed Raj Rajaratnam,
To the geeks at his hedge fund in Gotham.
But a Galleon tipper
Informed on her skipper;
Crowed the SEC: "Ha! Now we've gotten 'im!"

Financial Market Reform

The debacles of subprime and Madoff
Present free marketeers with a trade-off:
Markets need innovation,
But so too, regulation
That's neither deaf, dumb, blind nor paid off.

The New Economics

"Inflation's" the cry, much like "fire"
As the national debt caroms higher.
But though it seems stranger,
Deflation's the danger,
Of a lackluster cash multiplier.

Money Supply

"I'm afraid," said Bernanke to Geithner,
"The debt crisis still has lots of bite in 'er.
Though it may cause some ranklin',
We'll print lots more Franklins;
Let's loosen our money, not tighten 'er!"