Economic Fiction Poem by Ananta Madhavan

The economic expert packed his briefcase
And took a plane to east Antarctica
Where he was greeted by the Secretary
To the Mining Engineer in Chief.

The economic expert viewed the scene
And said, 'It's rather cold, I think', but when
The Mining Engineer wanted his opinion
On the inflationary potential

Of extracting sub-oceanic reefs,
He only bit his cigarette and said,
'I'll wend in my report when I have studied
The case for subsiding the export of corals.'