It’s my third anniversary on this platform fighting anti-democracy bad economics in the conservative style and other bad takes on neoclassical welfare economics, mostly. I feel I should do a special post to mark the occasion. How about a fun story this week?
The youngsters in the villages around my mountain home know me by many names. I think my favorite might be the hobo at the gate. But as I always try to explain whenever I hear it, I wasn’t always a hobo. One time I even met a queen. It was very special. Want to hear the tale?
Once upon a time, I visited the Villa of Academic Economics. All the Very Smart People who dwelt there were very excited. They were to receive a visit from the Queen of the Social Sciences herself. Great pomp and circumstance filled the air. Well, pomp anyway. “She knows all and explains all. She is the font of all that is true and good. She dispenses wealth and poverty, life and death. She is nature and her word eternal, immutable law, much like the laws of physics.” I trembled. Was I worthy to meet such a being?
And there she was! Radiant, upon a throne of pure gold! But as I gaped in slack-jawed awe, I detected something was amiss. The jewels were fake, the robe painted, the crown plastic. I set aside my fears and strode to the dais to greet this dubious Queen of Illusions. As I drew near, I saw by the crooked smile and cold eyes it was none other than my old nemesis, Bad Economics in the Conservative Style, in fancy dress. I bowed, “Greetings, your Majesty,” but it saw me and dissolved straightaway into a cloud of fog and mist. When the fog cleared only a grotty old toolbox sat on the dais, full of random items, including the first page of a child’s primer on ethics, ripped and crumpled: “Where’s the Queen?” I asked. “She’s there, right in front of you,” they proclaimed, still in awe.
I reached for the grotty old toolbox, but as I touched it I was transported to another realm. That’s when I met a true queen: the Queen of the Fairy Land. She spoke to me, “You have no business here. You are human, and your thoughts and values are those of a human. Be gone!” I looked about me and spied Bad Economics nearby, sitting on its haunches, lapping from a stream of pure gold. “And that?” I asked. “Does it belong?” The Fairy Queen replied lightly, “The changeling? The trickster? Yes, it belongs here. And there.”
I meant to protest, but the Fairy Queen threw some pixie dust and I was back on my beloved mountain paths. Bad Economics was there too, idly fondling the bones of those who have died from hunger and want amid plenty, with which it is adorned. It smiled slyly and winked at me. I meant to pursue it, but again it dissolved into a cloud of fog and mist. I asked a passing villager, “Have you seen Bad Economics?” He looked, then cried out, “It’s just there!” and pointed at a mouse. He might have killed it, but I explained that was not Bad Economics. I will always fight that old devil Bad Economics. One day, somewhere in the space between worlds, I’ll catch it, hold it fast, speak the magic words. Its power to confuse, cause conflict and harm will fade away and be gone from this world, forever.
Am I really leaving this tale up for two weeks? Sure, why not? Anti-democracy bad economics and the resulting fascist and anarchist sentiment have been decades in the making, they won’t end tomorrow, next week, indeed in my lifetime. We’ll get back to business soon enough.
