Fightin' Words

A woman who loved a good fight
Would demand, as she argued all night,
Philosophical heft
From those on the left
And empirical proof from the right.

A recent walk through the economic blogosphere left the impression that liberals (of the progressive variety, as in this randomly selected post by Paul Krugman) like to base their arguments on data, history and "whatever works;" while conservatives (particularly of the supply side or libertarian variety) seem to prefer philosophy, game theory, analogies or even the US constitution - anything but empirical studies.

Austrian Angst

The Austrian School is at pains
To hinder that stimulus reigns,
But to make matters worse
They're bested in verse,
For much less rhymes with Hayek than Keynes.

Urgent EU Consultation

Said van Rompuy to Merkel: "I task you
With assuring Athenians' rescue."
"It doesn't look rosy," 
Said she to Sarkozy,
"But are bailouts the answer? I ask you!"