Austerian Rhapsody
by digby
Hilarious:
There is a new European musical production, sung and performed in soaring operatic style, that tells the true story of the June internet war between Paul Krugman, the noted Keynesian economist, and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the president of Estonia. The first shot rang out when Krugman published a blog post titled "Estonian Rhapsody" criticizing the Baltic state's austerity measures. Later that day, Ilves, a national figurehead who commands no real executive power, retaliated by opening up a salvo of indignant and sometimes vulgar tweets, decrying Krugman as ignorant, "smug, overbearing & patronizing."
No, seriously, it's for real. Here are the lyrics for the first and second movement:
Nostra Culpa
I.
Economic triumph?
A natural experiment
Wonders of austerity
Economic triumph?
Poster child?
Incomplete recovery
Stimulate!
Estonian rhapsody
Austerians
Stimulate!
Fiscal stimulus trumps
Increased public debt
Devalue!
II.
Austerity in the wasteland
Dumb & silly East Europeans
Unenlightened
Nostra culpa
Frozen pensions
Lowered salaries
Internal devaluation
Nostra culpa
Gray apartments
Just wogs
Someday will understand
Nostra culpa
smug, overbearing & patronizing
Sh*t on East Europeans
Chill
Nostra culpa