Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Street

I wrote this poem/song lyrics in September 2009, eight years after the attacks of 9-11. The Crisis of Finance Capital was still in the headlines. Stock Markets had started to crash in October 2008, with no bottom in sight. Credit and commerce froze, although war funding continued, unaffected.  The government & the Federal Reserve responded with TARP, interest rates near zero, and various guarantee programs available only to the big financial institutions.  The S&P 500 index hit bottom in March 2009. Money continues to flood Wall Street while no effective programs reach the devastation in the rest of the country.


On nine-eleven Wall Street fell
People burned, people jumped
Bodies rained -- on the Street

Men and women went to War
Support our Troops

Free Markets cannot die they said
Traders traded, brokers brokered
Finance Capital revived, Shadow Bankers thrived
CDOs SIVs ABSs flowed throughout the globe
Bonuses rained -- on the Street

Men and women fight in War
Support our Troops

Overleveraged credit froze
Global gears seized up
The lubricant of money flowed no more
Brother -- lend me a dime
Uncle Sam -- lend me a billion

Men and women fight in War
Support our Troops

The death of Finance we must forestall
Not the time for strings or regulations
Taxpayer funds flood the Street
The gears unlock, credit flows, and yes, of course
Bonuses rain again -- on the Street

Brother lend me a dime
I paid my taxes, my mortgage I cannot pay

Men and women die in War
Support our Troops
Support the Street