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The Proclaimers, "Free Market" from Notes & Rhymes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: In choosing between two evils—allowing the financial system to burn in the fall of '08 or enshrining moral hazard as a permanent fixture of a rescued financial system—did we choose the lesser evil or the greater evil? The Treasury & the Federal Reserve, in whom we vested the responsibility for staving off economic calamity, made their choice: going forward, all losses will be permanently socialized & all gains permanently privatized. The free market is gone, replaced by a fixed market wherein every bank is "too big to fail" & institutional investors no longer face any risk, since sour gambles will always be pawned off on the Treasury & the Fed. This is not something Democrats did over the objections of Republicans or something Republicans did over the objections of Democrats; this is something we all did together. I remain unconvinced that we chose the lesser of two evils.

"You thought that history was dead,
Well, it just whacked you on the head,
It took your money and your right,
It's coming back to take your pride…

"Survival of the fittest is a swizz,
Law of the jungle's what it is,
I hope you still think it's O.K.
Now it's you who are the prey…

"Free marketeers were on a roll,
Rollin' in silver and in gold,
But then the markets grew too cold,
So they held out the beggin' bowl.

"Golden days are just a memory,
But that's alright 'cause the market is still free,
The market's free…"