FED DROPS INTEREST RATES, ACID AT POLICY RAVE

In this satire, Alan Greenspan and fellow economists are portrayed as hippies and druggies at a policy meeting, in which they do drugs instead of economics.  This pokes fun at the percieved sense of unprofessionalism and overall ineffectiveness of their policies.  The satire jokes that after adjusting interest rates and bond proces, they will just go and do more drugs because they know their policies will not work.  At the end of the article, the author jokes that they set the federal funds rates by "calling out every number they see in front of their eyes", which may be untrue, but entirely possible!

Ron Paul is Clearly Wrong: Why Bailouts Work and the Dangers of Libertarian Economics [Satire]

In the article "Ron Paul is Clearly Wrong: Why Bailouts Work and the Dangers of Libertarian Economics [Satire]", the author is commenting on speculators and the reasons of the housing market crash in the late 2000's.  Using satire and sarcasm, the point is made that the direct cause of the housing bubble could've been a group called the Austrians.  The author also jokes that drastic measures, like stimulus packages and bailouts, are absolutely necessary for a market economy when, in reality, we all know that had it not been for a couple unwise investing firms, the economy would not be in this mess.

A Whale of a Tale

A Whale of a Tale

Said the boss of a trading facility,
Whose job was to crimp volatility:
"While I'm away jettin',
Be sure you don't threaten
The global financial stability."

This poem describes a boss of a trading facility giving hos employees some heady and essentially unusable advice.  The satire plays out as the boss is going on a vacation on a jet while his employees are forced to work to keep the economy afloat.  He puts in almost no time to his job and is paid handsomely for it.  This also pokes fun at the extremely high salaries that bosses make, and all the "jettin'" they get to do.

On The Down Low at the Roadshow

On The Down Low at the Roadshow

"An analyst had a quick word
With investors his bankers preferred:
"We've cut our projections
For those with connections,
But won't tell the rest of the herd.'"
This poem is a humorous commentary on the state of the economy, and the unrightous and immoral techniques that are used to help investors and bankers profit.  It pokes fun at an analyst who knows that the economy is about to have a bear season, but he tells only his closest banking and investing friends.  This could have been done for a variety of reasons.  However, the one point this poem makes clear is very true: there is greed and dishonesty on the stock market, and it could be one of the reasons that our economy is doing so poorly.

An Unemployed Brother

In this cartoon, two men hold a passing conversation about getting a job and the economy, but in reality, the satire shows how bad the economy truly is.  It pokes fun at the hopelessness of the job market and the high rate of unemployment.  It also shows the duration of the recession as the man has resorted to working simply for food and has a very long beard.  He has obviously been jobless for quite some time.  This cartoon ultimately pokes fun at wall street too, as the "low" and "high" of society are both shown in the cartoon, and the simple fact that nobody from wall street is doing anything to help the man.

Taxpayers and Wall Street

This picture shows a satire of the bipartisan effort to bail out wall street while using taxpayers' money.  As the market tanked, the government realized that cutting taxes and raising government spending was needed, as it is part of America's monetary policy.  However, on the fiscal side of the government's policy, economists realized that buying bonds on the open market wouldn't be enough to keep companies from "going under".  So, the government turned to taxpayer money to bail out the large, irresponsible companies and to keep them from going into bankruptcy.