A Song About the Mortgage Crisis
To the tune of ‘Minnie the Moocher’ by Cab Calloway
March 23, 2009
Folks, here’s the story of Aggie the Moocher.
She hurt us so much, we need a suture.
Aggie made big promises she couldn’t keep.
Now government is paying, as the taxpayers weep.
Howdy howdy howdy how!
How did Aggie make a pow?
Hoodie hoodie hoodie who!
Hey, who has to pay, boo hoo!
Aggie messed around with fake insurance.
They were those credit-default swaps.
But with mortgage bonds, there was no endurance.
Aggie failed to show up with the mops.
(hidey-hi's!)
She had a dream about being queen of Eden.
She thought the payments, would not be needin’.
And if the gold and steel should crack,
Of bailout money, Uncle Sam has no lack.
(hidey-hi's!)
Uncle gave Aggie many houses and horses.
The bonuses were like a dozen courses.
Aggie got millions of nickels and dimes.
Now people are saying the bailouts were crimes.
(hidey-hi's!)
What’s the lesson we can learn from Aggie?
Must taxpayers be left holding the baggie?
The mortgages were backed by the land,
But now we see this is nothing but sand.
Howdy howdy howdy how!
How to stop the Aggies, how?
Hoodie hoodie hoodie who?
Who has to pay, who, who?
If land values fall down to zero,
Then we’ll no longer fiddle like Nero.
If communities collect all the rent,
Then moochers like Aggie can’t make a dent.
(hidey-hi's!)
Whoah!
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FRED E. FOLDVARY, Ph.D., (May 11, 1946 — June 5, 2021) was an economist who wrote weekly editorials for Progress.org since 1997. Foldvary’s commentaries are well respected for their currency, sound logic, wit, and consistent devotion to human freedom. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He taught economics at Virginia Tech, John F. Kennedy University, Santa Clara University, and San Jose State University.
Foldvary is the author of The Soul of Liberty, Public Goods and Private Communities, and Dictionary of Free Market Economics. He edited and contributed to Beyond Neoclassical Economics and, with Dan Klein, The Half-Life of Policy Rationales. Foldvary’s areas of research included public finance, governance, ethical philosophy, and land economics.
Foldvary is notably known for going on record in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology in 1997 to predict the exact timing of the 2008 economic depression—eleven years before the event occurred. He was able to do so due to his extensive knowledge of the real-estate cycle.