Is satire the new politics?

Please find below a video of two Australians explaining the Eurozone crisis. One line that would stick in the mind, if not in the craw, if it weren’t so vast, begins “How can broke economies lend money to other broke economies who haven’t got any money because they can’t pay back the money the broke economy lent the other broke economy… ?” Never mind that in the midst of the stat swirl, the debts of Ireland, Portugal and Spain are exaggerated, the big question is - How come it takes two Aussie comedians to provide such essential instruction?

I write thinking of economist David McWIlliams' recent paper in the Irish Independent in which he drops something of a bombshell explaining that Irish banks haven’t been able to borrow these last few weeks. “The market is now as good as shut to us as money retracts from risky countries like Ireland to safer locations like Germany. This pattern is unlikely to change any time soon as the financial world comes to the realisation that the bailouts of recent months are only postponing the day of reckoning.” Interesting to note here that McWilliams also has his own satirical show running at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. I suspect that if he just tells Ireland’s recent economic history straight, he’ll bring the house down. We usually assume that political satire relies on exaggeration for its effects, but political life has become so unreal that it looks like only humour can provide us with a reality check. I'm not sure this is an entirely welcome development.