I’ve Always Wanted to Be a Fly on the Wall at the Fed

This was not what I meant.

If you’re looking for hard-hitting economics, move along. But if you’re looking for an economist eating wildlife on live television, welcome to my weekend.

I was on CNN when, halfway through the interview, a fly zipped straight into my mouth.

Unlike Bill Clinton, I’ll admit it: I inhaled.

That’s the end of the fly’s story. It was also, technically, the end of my career as a pescetarian. Fish, yes. Flies, no. Flies don’t even swim.

Unfortunately, it was not the end of the interview.

So there I was on national television, coughing, eyes watering, worried both that the fly might emerge from my throat and that it never emerge. (It didn’t.)

And then the host, Omar Jimenez, asked me about the Fed.

What’s a committed economic educator to do?

KEEP TALKING.

The show must go on. When life hands you a fly, provide insights into monetary policy.

So I tried to wing it (BOOM!). I just needed to integrate my newly acquired protein into an answer about Kevin Warsh:

“It might actually be a metaphor, because the biggest thing going on at the Fed is Kevin Warsh feels like I do right now. Kevin Warsh doesn’t like talking about what’s going on, and it makes both of us a little harder to understand and a little harder to interpret. So, you could think about Kevin as having swallowed the fly as well.”

Reader, I don’t know where that answer came from. Probably the same place the fly went. As economists say, never let a good crisis go to waste.

And then the clip went viral.

Which means that, after spending my career trying to get people interested in economics, I have finally discovered the secret:

Swallow a fly.

The resulting headlines were magnificent. Journalists apparently keep an emergency drawer full of insect puns for moments like this.

Now: Which headline wins?

Or do you have something better to offer?