I've often felt that the role of economics, like religion, in the life of a people is seldom appreciated for its essence—a form of poetry that embodies the abstractions and distractions of those of us who have escaped from the plow and now wonder what we should do about each other.

Economics, disguised as science and cloaked in the robe of mathematics, typically presents itself so denuded of its poetic aspect that there should be little surprise if it is commonly ignored by anyone with any sense. Yet the pure poetry of the enterprise at times bursts forth in an effulgence that cannot fail to charm. Such was today's find.

The text was written by Gary Danelishen, an economics major at Baldwin-Wallace College, and was the concluding sentence of his essay on "Austrian Economics vs. Benanke's Economics."

It is an excellent example of abstract poetry and could well stand alone in any anthology. I have taken the liberty, however, of adapting it, using certain techniques associated with visual poetry, to produce the work that follows. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

[A note on browsers: This œuvre was produced using Firefox and tested under Safari. The result when viewed through Internet Explorer is, as always, anyone's guess—and if your monitor explodes I am, as always, truly sorry.]
 

THE MEANING OF IT ALL
 

A central-bank-engineered

monetary expan$$$ion

producing→

falling

€xchange rate$

is

a pecuniary externality

resulting in

a Lachmannesque kaleidoscopic vision of

CAPITAL

forever in

disequilibrium.

Tags: poetry humor