'Twas the death of the dollar
and all through the land
Not a greenback was traded
for more than a Rand.
The paper was shoveled with
nary a care
With hopes that inflation would
not soon be there.
My children sit quiet and await
the sad tale
Of the day that the Dollar
Standard had failed.
In the quaint days of old when
money was good
We bought nothing with debt
and saved as we should.
But Lord Father Keynes had
preached to the crowd
That paper was good and honest
and proud!
We've no need for metal like
silver or gold
Such thinking and bias is foolish
and old.
We'll print all we need and
make not a fuss
The lessons of history apply
not to us.
Reserve Notes were hailed as
safe from the fate
That befell all nations both
humble and great.
Then oceans of ink and forests
of trees
Were forged into money by sovereign
decrees.
The world emerged from her
shackles of rust
The barbarous relics were tossed
in the dust!
Dreaming we had beaten the
liquidity trap
We all settled down for the
Kondratieff nap.
When straight from the East
there arose such a stink
The unmistakable scent of paper
and ink.
We've seen these before, we
sent them to you,
How terribly rude to refuse
I.O.U.s!
With credit for you and credit
for me
There's no cause to work for
the things that we need.
Our friends in the East are
happy to loan
Their savings back West, but
it's us they shall own.
Their factories were built
by the sweat of the brow
And their people were fed from
the fruit of the plow.
The things that we bought they
shipped them all here
Prices are low, so there's
nothing to fear!
Our presses of print glowed
white from the heat
Once cut loose from gold there
is no retreat.
So the banks of the world stacked
them twenty feet high
Locked safe in their vaults
away from the eye.
Its funny, you know, that they
guard them with care
They sold out their gold to
make room for them there.
Protected by buzzers and bells
that alarm
Believing that this made them
safe from all harm
While so far away to the debtors
delight
A fresh batch just like them
appeared in the night!
While in the short term the
sad joke was on them
They planned and they plotted
the payback of men.
They graciously smiled when
we handed them more
Knowing full well they'd be
back on our shore.
At first they bought Treasury
Debt by the ton
It kept the game going; it's
all in good fun!
But the more that they loaned
the more they got back
Their grand plan had failed,
it's time to attack!
We know what we'll do, we'll
dump them en masse
We'll buy all the gold and
the silver and brass.
Right at the mine with our
briefcase of bills
We'll buy it all up then head
for the hills.
Whatever is left we will dump
on the floor
With metal in hand we'll need
them no more.
I remember the fear in the
pits on that day
The index had tumbled, all
support went away.
She opened no bid and was down
for the count
No one was buying in any amount.
The bottom had fallen below
the last floor
The traders and hedgers all
rushed for the door.
Where was the fabled Japanese
boost
When the chickens aplenty had
come home to roost?
Elliott's disciples who worshipped
the waves
Were blinded by graphs and
so they behaved
By dumping their gold when
reading twin peaks
They regretted their choice
at the end of the week!
A six-pack of Joes arose from
the din
They wondered whatever had
done the buck in?
With her intaglio portraits
of leaders of yore
And shifty black ink that seemed
green just before.
Its counterfeit proof was the
Treasury song
It only requires that the world
play along.
The sheeple did bleat with
their handfuls of cash,
Shell-shocked and seeing their
wealth was now trash.
The Maestro who had turned
his back on his youth
Could no longer hide from the
rod of the truth.
Our masters are cruel and their
judgment is right
It's very dismal for all, and
to all a cold night!
