MICHAEL DENNIS MOONEY -- new writings

Greenspan consults the ghost of Ayn Rand.
She goes galumphing through the flat
On stiletto heels, in furs and winding sheets.
(His wife would like the place exorcised.)

The Ghost of Halloween Past!
It is smoking furiously.
The long cigarette holder,
The scary angry scowls,
The haunting dark eyes,
The Sunset Boulevard stares,
The spooky Russian accent,
The smell of sulphur
-- You know she went to hell!--
Yes, it is Ayn Rand.

She says in her sepulchral voice,
Alan, you know you did the right thing!
You allowed the finance markets
To become thoroughly deregulated;
You helped bring about capitalist ideals
And the markets regulated themselves.

Thus, in a seance, all the lights out,
Is the work of economics done.

"You can take the boy out of the cult,
But you can't take the cult out of the boy."



Notes: Alan Greenspan was one of Ayn Rand's co-authors
for her collection of ideological essays, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."
The famous concluding quote here, in italics, is from the economist Paul
Samuelson.

"Alan Sees A Ghost" appeared in the NYTIMES.COM Deal Book weblog
on April 7, 2010, as a comment on their post, "Greenspan Hearing Goes Dark."