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It may be sooner, or
It may be later
But one thing's for sure
You've got to pay the alligator
The Flatlanders
The Bull is in the China shop
Breaking everything in sight.
The Bear is in the garbage dump
Grubbing the last bite.
The Alligator waits his turn
Crouching kind of offish.
Bear meat will have to do
The bull gave at the office.
It's Alan Greenspan's fault
All eagerly agreed.
He pushed rates too low
Calmed our fears and fed our greed.
He shouldn't have let them do it
It's not common sense.
To police your own behavior
And counter-party risk.
His name is tarnished now
Spoken with derision.
Financial markets apparently do need
Adult supervision.
So get a long-handled shovel
For leverage if you need it
The alligator is on the loose
And someone has to feed it.
Bob McTeer
2 Responses to “Paying the Alligator”
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March 19th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
We the people through our elected representatives have the bite of an aligator. We can honor contracts and then through our tax system render them effectively void.
Perhaps the appetite of a elephant is a more appropriate analogy. But remember, when elephants make love (OR fight), the grass gets trampled. Look out below.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:51 am
I am at the rise conference where I saw you and I have to say you seemed like one of the most relaxed and insightful speakers.
Anyway as for your poem, it was great to see you speak out for Alan Greenspan. I do agree that everyone shouldn’t totally rely on regulations their “parent” puts forth. Nice to see such a view put into a poem quite well.