[Verse 1]
I went down to the Piraeus just the other day
When a boy from Polemarchus stopped me on my way
I was hoping that I'd gotten out of his reach
But my escape, it was thwarted, from this greedy beach
Soon I met my friend, face-to-face
We feasted at his house, quite an extravagant place
By the dog I thought it best not to ask of Veblen
Because I was not sure if these here were wise men
It's hard for me to see what the Piraeus has come to
Money-pinching men who bid virtue adieu
Deep in thought, Glaucon caught me scratching my beard
"Socrates," he said, "what is it that you find weird?"
I gave him a shrug, I saw nothing beautiful;
The terrors of the market were indisputable
Ah yes, we had food, but at the cost of silver
And silver leaving Athens could surely not build her
As if he read my mind, Glaucon kept talking
Telling of Bastiat, who loved protectionist-mocking
While I find this all nice and good
Except the economy? I don't know if I could
So I decided to make myself loud and clear:
"There's no beauty in the market, Glaucon my dear
Can't you tell that all these people here are depraved?
Solon must keep them in order so that they'll behave."
[Verse 2]
"Mr. Socrates, let me put it like this
I'll speak in your language so you get the gist:
You say that a form is beautiful, perfect
Yet no reflection of it on Earth is free of defect
Likewise the market itself has a form
But Solon's laws just contort and deform it
We see pure glimpses of this thing here and there
Like in trade, both men get more than a fair share
The market is great, but it's better when it's free;
Its existence helps meet the needs of you and me
For years economists have tried to understand
How our life is ruled by an invisible hand
Think about what he says, that is, Herr Heilbronner
He feels we will go on, not driven by honor
But don't you dare think that beauty will lack
As indeed, strange phenomena will bring it back
For example, think of prices, back and forth, how they lean
They tend toward the center, Aristotle's mean
Alfred Marshall says this rule holds on supply and demand
They aren't perfect but they're close; they are made by hand
The market is beautiful, when respected
It only turns to a beast when you reject it
Sorry Socrates, I wanted to get that out of the way;
Go ahead, it looks like you have something to say."
[Verse 3]
"Ah yes, friend, Glaucon, now you've got my attention
A form you say? Surely not in this dimension
Am I just going to be swept away with the broom?
Since in this form for philosophers there is no room?"
"Ah no, Socrates, that's where the beauty exists
As in this form every person does as they insist
The problem in this form comes from Earthly perversion;
The market here in Athens needs some conversion
"The market is great, but it's better when free;
Its existence helps meet the needs of you and me
The market is beautiful, when respected
It only turns to a beast when you reject it
Let me finish with a thought, then I'm off to bed:
We still need you badly, don't worry your head
Economics doesn't have answers for all matters;
Without lessons in virtue our society shatters
If the market has a form, indeed, beauty it has;
It's a leap of faith to embrace this as
Our market seems to be different from your ideal
So I'd like to talk more over our next meal