Economist, Fayetteville, Arkansas
When fireflies came out to dance
and stars began to blink,
Old Kaspar shook his piggy bank
And settled down to think,
While Peterkin and Wilhelmine
Looked at the metaphoric screen.
They saw some men who went along
A residential street
And scattered dollars in the air
Like peasants sowing wheat,
While people ran from all around
To pick the dollars from the ground.
And as the sowers moved ahead,
The crowds got bigger yet,
As rumor spread the word around
Of dollars there to get,
And many workers left their jobs
To join the dollar-picking mobs.
"Now tell us what it’s all about!"
The little children cried.
"It’s called a Fiscal Stimulant,"
Old Kaspar soon replied.
"It shakes us out of sloth or slump
And makes the business index jump."
"For curing slumps," said Kaspar then,
"The Planners all agree
There’s nothing in this world to match
A dollar-spending spree.
It drives the wolf from every door
And makes demand for products soar."
"It seems a very clever plan,"
Breathed little Wilhelmine.
"One imperfection," Kaspar sighed,
"May not have been foreseen.
The folks in dollar-picking mobs
Soon lose their zeal for finding jobs."
H.P.B. Jenkins
H. P. B. JENKINS, 1902-1963. Following active service in the European Theater during World War II, Dr. Harry Jenkins taught Economics in the College of Business AdÂministration at the University of Arkansas. Many will best remember him as author of the "Old Kasper" communiques, carried continuously in THE FREEMAN since February 1959.
Dr. Jenkins was stricken and died while walking home from graduation ceremonies on the campus, January 26, 1963.