Every breath you take
Every change of rate
Jobs you don't create
While we still stagflate
I'll be watching you.
First you move your lips
And hike a few more BiPS.
When demand then dips
And the yield curve flips,
I'll be watching you.
Well, it seems those zany B-school types are at it again. For this year's Follies, Columbia Business School ("CBS") students put together this hilarious, "must see" music video sung to The Police's Every Breath You Take, lampooning their Dean, former Economic Adviser for the White House, Glenn Hubbard. You may remember Hubbard was on the short list a few months ago to succeed Alan Greenspan as Fed Reserve Chair but lost out to his friend Ben "Hot Seat" Bernanke. Very clever spoof.
Now if we could just get Bernanke to stop singing to the likes of "Honey Money" Maria Bartiromo, and quit with all this market-rattling straight talk. We need obfuscation, not overcommunication! Maybe Gentle Ben should learn a trick or two from
his predecessor, Mr. Greenspeak, who who did not grant an interview with the press for the 18 years he was Chairman, and reportedly proposed to Andrea Mitchell three times before she understood he was asking her to marry him Then again, "transparency" doesn't always mean clarity:
"Monetary policy is most effective when it is as coherent, consistent and predictable as possible, while at all times leaving full scope for flexibility and the use of judgment as conditions may require."Much better, Ben.
(posted by Portia)
3 comments:
Oh what a hoot! I'm still laughing :)
I had a feeling you'd get a kick out of it, Cass. I've watched it several times and it still makes me laugh. The guy playing Hubbard may have missed his calling!
I read somewhere that Bernanke thought it was a hoot too, and even sent a note to Hubbard telling him so.
Economists usually have a great sense of humor. I generally like them. I was privileged to end up being close friends with several of my Econ profs in school, and also found Steve Conover over at the Skeptical Optimist to be a great guy with a wonderful wit. He was very kind to me during the time after I quit blogging. It surprised me, and I've never forgotten it.
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