the money shot

it is too obvious to state that the financial mess of the world, not just the u.s., is completely crazed. not that i understand too terribly much about economics or finance at all. economics seems to be more alchemy then science even tho our 'experts' and even the public at large tend to treat economics as a science that follows physical laws much the same as gravity.

today i heard on the radio that the projected federal deficit for fiscal year '09 in the u.s. will be around 1.3 trillion dollars. that is an unbelievable amount of money. it is so large that there is no way that anyone could ever ask to see that sort of cash placed in a pile before them. metaphorically speaking, i mean, since money is more an abstraction than physical object. then is not economics a collection of theories tempered by collective agreements on how the markets shall operate?

well, before i get completely over my head i have been thinking of stevens' famous saying 'money is a kind of poetry' which i take to mean that money is a metaphor. it can change into anything. it is a kind of magic. like poetry. language also can make change too. can not poets use the metaphors of money in our writing? how does poetry address our present financial disasters?

i know that there are a few poets working in finance today. katy lederer worked for a hedge fund manager [i'm not sure what a hedge fund is. but i do know that hedge fund managers are usually ultra-rich] for several years. her most recent book is titled the heaven-sent leaf which is about her years in high finance. i've not read the book yet but lederer is also a blogger and posted recently this piece of outrage on this financial fuck-up we are in. even more interesting is this essay about poetry and money.

we are in uncharted waters now. where that will take us even the 'experts' don't know. i hope that the near-future gets us to re-think and re-do how we generate, use, relate and share capital. and that idiotic tv fare such as the real housewives of orange county and life in the fab lane, which are reality shows that details the extravagant lifestyles of seriously empty people, are soon off the air because people are sick of such goddamned materialism. too much to ask for, i'm sure. but i do hope that change is soon heading this way.

below is katy lederer reading her eponymous poem 'the heaven-sent leaf' here in sac last october.