Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary Over many a quaint and curious volume of Macro Lore While thus struggling and stressing to myself I began professing “The whole discipline was guessing and its record was quite poor M...acro theories are conflicting with 9 of 5 recessions predicting.” But to solve my social science course I needed a good score
Ah, it was in that bleak December, and I could not quite remember, What I learned back in September, what the professor did explore. With dreams of Christmas break, I could barely stay awake A gasp soon I did intake when a knock through the silence tore “T’is some fellow student knocking, knocking on my dorm room door” Said I, as I opened wide the door
I thought, at first, I was dreaming to see this bearded man a'beaming And his Nobel prize a’gleaming he passed through my dorm room door As he came toward my direction recognizing his complexion From the Times opinion section, t’was Paul Krugman at my door This rare, renowned economist whom the right-wing doth abhor Only this and nothing more
With my luck so quickly turning knowing I could now start learning About the essay prompt concerning: how full employment to restore With inquisitive expression quickly I began to question “How do we end this recession and full employment to restore?” Not shaken up nor shaven was the economic maven Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“More spending can’t be provided, were the words I gently chided With congress ever divided, nothing makes it to the senate’s door” “Maybe in a perfect setting, but what you seem to be forgetting The whole plan is just begetting of higher deficits galore? Borrowing now is easy, paying it back is quite a chore!” Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“The Keynesian theory that you utter as consumption’s in the gutter May be fine in theory but the real world you ignore For gov spending you keep nagging, your brilliance you keep bragging But it suffers inside lagging: House bills die upon the floor Though our economy could use it, politicians will just abuse it And pack pounds of pork in the package just like they have before”
The Krugman gave no token to the words my mouth had spoken He was like a record broken repeating the words of “spend some more.” So I spoke it with more clarity wondering if the trough’s severity Could be cured by austerity, it was an option to explore “Take the gov. from out our lives and its grasp from out our core” Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“But Greek spending is outrageous certainly it can become contagious Their example should dissuade us from spending even more Europeans keep complaining though the welfare state be straining Gov. spending must be reigned in for our GDP to soar.” Still spending, still contending saying it louder than before Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“I do not understand you” and another argument I ran through From the advice of Gregory Mankiw, you know, the Harvard prof. of lore, He says higher taxes on the rich will not get us from this ditch T’was time for another switch perhaps less government not more Ignore not tax incentives and if we want to stay inventive The gov. should take less percent of our income we work for
Krugman sat there ruminating and I thought he was creating A response perchance berating of the one he’d argued with before With the Delong blog a’backing and republican attacking And no antipathy a’lacking he repeated it once more While the right wing keeps out doubting, shouting against him even more Quoth the Krugman “Spend some more”
Pining for a better explanation I got only agitation On his stress of aggregation which I heard oft times before Under the power of my next look, I opened my Macro textbook Looking for what the effect took to make the private sector sore “Let your voice be still a second and the legwork here explore” Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
As the credit binge receded some vocations just weren’t needed Zero-MP hires are a facet of the days of yore Corporate profits overflowin’ and productivity ever growin’ Were the thoughts of Tyler Cowen, the MR blogging editor It’s not really a death rattle, though we face an upward battle Quoth the Krugman, “spend some more.”
“The cause of all this firing and the lack of business hiring Is traced to the uncertainty that the White House does outpoar Since we are the greatest nation so instead of regulation And cap and trade taxation,” said I, “we need free market more” This argument I refined from that which the right defined But as though he hit rewind, he just repeated it once more
“Low rates might cause more trouble for inflating one more bubble It was time that rates be raised perhaps a percentage point or more Such action would be less drastic using models strictly stochastic Investment’s more inelastic than what once was thought before” This was the nitty-gritty from the Fed from Kansas City Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“What Fannie and Freddie engaged in was the source of this contagion From the words of professor Rajan: subprime mortgages he doth deplore. What caused the housing boom and the source of all this doom Were the houses that went to whom the government deemed were poor” Rejecting and neglecting I heard the same old non sequitur Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
“Don’t you know it’s just displeasing to push quantatative easing, That government intrusion so harmful to the right wing’s core? That more money thus created will cause the dollar to be inflated And our Moody rating down-graded from a once high credit score That is, I think, the letter that the Republicans implore” Quoth the Krugman, “Spend some more.”
After rattlin’ off these theories and espousing all my queries It annoyed me and destroyed me that all the facts he could ignore My thoughts I sat expressing and his theory not acquiescing I really began a’stressing about the exam I had at four So I bid him adieu as he passed through my door room door To the tune of “Spend some more.”
And the Krugman never fretting still is vetting still is vetting The same thoughts that Keynes General Theory did implore And his words have all the seeming of a liberal minded beaming While his notoriety streaming keeps waging on a blogging war And the words from out that battle of that ever waging war Come “Spend some more.”
|