King Derwin's Magicians -- and Ours

Waiting on Economists'
"Chants and Charms?"

"A mighty good chant," said the King, looking very pleased. Are you sure it will work?"

All the magicians nodded together.

"But," said the King, looking puzzled, "How long will it take?"

"Be calm, oh, Sire, and have no fears," chanted the magicians.

"Our charm will work in ten short years."

--"The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins," by Dr. Seuss

Watching an inspired production of the famous Dr. Seuss story by The Children's Theatre yesterday, I couldn't help noting the parallels between King Derwin's magicians, and Barack Obama's economic magicians.

Just like Dr. Seuss' magicians, our government magicians profess confidence that their "spell" -- TARP, zero percent interest rates, quantitative easing, etc. -- will have the desired effect.

King Derwin pronounces the magicians "fools," and promptly dismisses them.

Meanwhile, in the real world, we are giving our latter-day magicians more power, and waiting for their chants and charms to work.

P.S.: How do you say "economist" in Japanese?