Once upon a time, there was a great big bogeyman.
It was called 'Balance of Payments'
and everyone made a fuss about it.
Then 'Balance of Payments' disappeared.
Another time there was another great big bogeyman.
It was called 'Devaluation' and everyone made a fuss about it.
Then 'Devaluation' disappeared.
Another time there was another great big bogeyman.
It was called 'Productivity'.
Everyone made a fuss about it, then 'Productivity' disappeared.
There have been other bogeymen but because they disappeared
I don't remember what they were.
Now we have 'the Deficit'.
That's a very big bogeyman.
Everyone makes a fuss about it.
It's got to 'come down', everyone says.
Our newspapers and politicians love these great big bogeymen.
At the end of the day, making a fuss about
all these different bogeymen does the same thing:
it says to people that they should have lower wages.
Hurrah for great big bogeymen.
Maybe we'll have a new one soon.
