The Deficit or–Prosperity On The Cuff

 Economist at Fayetteville, Arkansas

It was a rainy afternoon
At story-telling time.
Old Kaspar chewed a dead cigar
and wished for rum-and-lime,
While Peterkin and Wilhelmine
Warmed up the television screen.

 
They saw a monster come and stand
Upon the Senate floor,
Where many tried to tie him up
And drag him out the door;
But others went to help him then
And let him wander free again.

 
Old Kaspar heard a cry of fright
From little Wilhelmine,
And saw the vision fading off
The television screen.
“It was the Deficit,” said he,
“The Monster of the Treasury.”

 
“What does he eat,” cried Wilhelmine,
“And would he eat us, too?”
“He eats the little prices, dear,
That’s why we have so few;
And fear that he will eat them all
Is what makes prices grow so tall.”

 
“Now tell us how we got him, then,
And just what good is he?”
“The Planners got him,” Kaspar sighed,
“To guard Prosperity.
They say we need to keep him here
To give us Full Employment, dear.”

“But can’t we guard Prosperity
In some less scary way?”
“We did without the Monster once;
But now, the Planners say,
We can’t go turning back the clock
And risk a cataclysmic shock.”