Overheard at a Mortgage Servicer

"Today, to the evident sorrow
Of the lot who can't pay what they borrow,
We'll discreetly foreclose
On a hundred châteaux,
And we'll do it again come tomorrow."

Le Cri de Krugman

Dr. Krugman inveighed with ferocity:
"Without spending, the decade is lost," said he;
"With consumers defeated,
The Treasury's needed
To boost monetary velocity."

2010 Nobel Prize

A trio of really smart guys
Were bestowed a prestigious prize
For teaching the mobs
That the market for jobs
Has more friction than many surmise. 

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2010 was awarded jointly to Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides "for their analysis of markets with search frictions".  It might be added: "...in a complete upset of both the Nobel prediction market and Dr. Goose's personal pick."  But... congratulations... really.

Dr. Goose's Nobel Pick

Richard Thaler and Robert J. Shiller,
More empir'cal than Merton H. Miller,
Through the care that they gave your
Financial behavior,
Make footprints as great as Godziller.

The groundbreaking research by Thaler, of U. Chicago, and Shiller, of Yale, takes the study of finance beyond the purely rational approach embodied by 1990 Nobel Prize winner Merton Miller, into the more reality-based realm of "behavioral finance," thus having a greater impact on solving real-world problems.

Taxes: Lost in Translation

Some studious counters of beans
Compared tax rates to national means;
They concluded that Yanks
Should certainly give thanks
To pay less than those poor Europeans.

But comparison solely on tax
Disguises some relevant facts,
Since to see an MD,
Which some countries get free,
Leaves Americans flat on our backs.  

A Stimulating Viewpoint

George Soros boldly avowed:
"Obama is needlessly cowed;
He should borrow more bread
To fund roads and higher ed,
Never mind the Republican crowd."

A Non-Stimulating Argument

A program of fiscal austerity 
Is historically really a rarity; 
Though it brings, some maintain, 
Fiscal gain without pain, 
They perhaps overlook its severity.  

Harvard economics professor Greg Mankiw's blog contains links to both sides of this debate.

The Original Concept

The Social Security invention
Reflected a simple convention:
Each lady or gent
Who paid as they went
Would be funding one-ninth of a pension.

Totally Adequate Remedial Program

Politicians may argue and carp a lot  

Whether bailouts were fiscally sharp or not,  

But two years and a day  

With Depression at bay  

Should make us appreciate TARP a lot.