Dr. Simons doesn’t like what the monitors show. He listens here and there with his stethoscope and places his fingers on key arteries and fleshy areas. “It is important that the blood be flowing throughout the body”, he explains. “I am looking for signs of a clog, signs of blood building up in one area and not circulating properly. The heart must be beating strongly enough, and efficiently enough, and the blood pressure within bounds. We must also be alert to impurities in the blood. Why do you think this patient is recovering slowly?” he asks the interns.
Paul, eager to impress, suggests that new European cure. “Bleed the patient. It will take out the bad humours and eventually restore the patient to health.” “Oh sure, just like austerity cured Europe’s economy”, quipped Marlene. “What?” says Paul, “We are talking about blood and the body here, not money and the economy.”
Roger disagrees. “This patient’s recovery is too sluggish”, he declares. I think we should put more blood into the body, but spike it with caffeine, like the energy drinks we use to keep awake. That will stimulate the patient back to health.” “I couldn’t agree less”, says Paul. “This patient is in fragile health, and a big dose of caffeine in the bloodstream would act like a toxin. Whoever heard of giving a transfusion of a blood-caffeine mix? The toxin would do as much harm as the blood does good.”
“Well, it’s done all the time in economics”, Marlene stated. “Consider the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Didn’t we pump money into the economy, and debt at the same time, by using Federal Reserve Notes as the basis for the money infusion?”
“I do not need the boldface, Marlene, and I must bring this conversation down to earth” says Dr. Simons. This patient has lost blood in surgery, and needs a transfusion. Fortunately, he has provided two pints of his own blood pre-surgery. Assuming they have not been hoarded away somewhere or impounded for some other purpose, they will be available to restore him to health. Otherwise, we will have to resort to the blood bank.”
“Two pints”, interjects Marlene. But isn’t that just a small part of the total amount of blood in the human body? A margin, as we would say in economics?” “It is, but for reasons that will be later explained, it will do nicely. Two pints of blood, and not mixed with any foreign substance that would act as a toxin – like caffeine, Roger, or like… debt, if you prefer, Marlene”. “So what you mean is, you want to use the ‘United States Notes’ of blood instead of the ‘Federal Reserve Notes’ of blood. You do know the difference....” “Yes, a prior life… but we must talk later about your lack of subtlety”, said Dr. Henry C. Simons. “A two-pint transfusion of unadulterated blood, STAT.”
There followed a talking-to about lack of subtlety (“I thought it important, considering most people only think of such things while multi-tasking a mouse, donut and coffee before the real day’s work begins”). Marlene’s ears stung as she made her way home – a meandering, pensive walk it would be – around Washington Circle, then right at Dupont, for the long walk home down the avenue.
Hallowed ground here - but so lifeless, this morning, after what she had just been through…ivory towers on the Left, ivory towers on the Right, where she knew the great minds were beginning to ponder, “What do we dare talk about today? Must we start out the new year pretending again that the cause of the recession-and-debt was fiscal-fiscal-fiscal, or dare we to finally step on some big-money toes and get to the heart of the matter (so to speak) - the malfunctioning monetary system?”
From the moment Dr. Simons had seen the monitors askew, he had realized a correct diagnosis and timely action were imperative – a necessity of working in the real world of medicine; an example to other professions. “I want to live that daringly, that decisively”, thought Marlene to herself. Maybe she would stay in medicine, after all.
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