The cradle of democracy

Athens was when the world was wee

But now the Greeks keep phony books

And whitewash them that was the cooks.

I always admired the Peloponesis

Believing that's where the best of Greece is

But lately I have come to think

Greece is a state that's over the brink.

It seems like now its Papa land

With heads stuck firmly in the sand

With euros stowed in Switzerland

The local economy can't expand.

Dance Interlude: Dexia

See double-failing Dexia

Whose municipal loans were sexia

Backed by Franco-Belge dyslexia

So politically correctsia.

Those rhymes are awful, I hear you chorus

Have you at last lost your thesaurus?

Okay, I'll try to stay in line

I will, I will, but please don't whine.

Act II: Merkel's Search

Cans were kicked down multiple roads.

Angela Merkel kissed the toads

Hoping to find just one Prince.

Some of the pictures made one wince.

Act III: The Man of the Hour

Then out of the forest, damp and foggy,

Came the voice of Mario Draghi

"The vice president and I welcome you

To a central bank that's new.

Just pretend I am German now;

Defend the euro I will vow

But never to a sovereign lend

Instead on banks we must depend;

We stuff them with liquidity

And they the best of conduits be.

What they'll do with all that cash

Is their affair, go have a bash.

Private enterprise, you will see

Can fix the stuff that governments flee

I know the rules, I know the facts

Cause I was trained at Goldman Sachs."

Act IV: Italy

Scene 1: Public Policy

Then out of the muck of Italy's maw

Mario Monti got the draw

And onto the wheel he put his paw

Reshaping his country law by law.

Known to all as a technocrat,

New governing forces he begat,

New taxes, policies passed like that,

Cutting through ages of fat.

Now with two Nintendo guys

Critics see what made them wise;

Jumping on their trampolines

Conceals their forward-thinking means.

Sheltering from the great deluge

With Italian subterfuge

Machiavelli they've read with elation

But only in a German translation.

I've no doubt they will prevail

Bending themselves against the gale

Cause Draghi has the printing press

And Monti a secret worth no less.

Scene 2: Italian Women

Italian women are they key

To renewal for Italy.

Fertility rate is one point six

Something that they must fix.

Their working rate is 40 percent.

Tho beauty and grace are heaven sent

The nation they cannot propel

If sloth will pave the way to hell.

La Dolce Vita they'll forsake.

More bambini they will make

To cure deficient demographics

Taking time from romance classics.

Off to work they will go

So GDP can grow and grow.

Italian population bombs

Becoming Roman soccer moms.

Maybe they'll even go to mass

Uh, no, I think they will give that a pass.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Going to work would have the greatest immediate impact because it would increase the country’s GDP, quite possibly significantly. If, for example, 15% of Italian women went to work, the GDP increase could be 7% a year, which would be enough to make Italy’s debts much more bearable.

Just as important for a country that has large, unfunded obligations to older people, increasing the fertility rate to the replacement level of 2.1 could be crucial to the economy’s long-term health. If the fertility rate does not increase, then there must be a substantial flow of immigrants to fill the gap or the promises to the elderly must be repudiated.

The message to Mario Monte is clear: Mobilize the women of Italy to save their country. Beauty is not their only asset.