And the Money Kept Rolling In
The musical Evita portrays the life of the first lady of Argentina, Eva Peron. Eva used her power and influence to build support from the lower classes in large part through fiscal policy. She spent loads of money through her foundation helping the poor, but in this song Che questions the legitimacy of the foundation and whether all that spending is really helping the people.
Read the lyrics below and, in groups of two or three, answer the following questions.
1. Giving to Eva Peron’s foundation was theoretically voluntary. If it isn’t voluntary what does that make it?
Answer: A non-voluntary contribution sounds a lot like a tax.
2. How does Eva make the choice of who gets what? Why would she use this method of disbursement?
Answer: Eva essentially uses a lottery system where someone is chosen at random. This is to portray a sense of fairness. A market system allocates goods through the price mechanism. The lottery is an attempt to use equity as opposed to efficiency to allocate goods and services.
3. If Eva is spending a lot and some of the cash “has gone astray”, what does that mean for the budget of the foundation?
Answer: It is likely the foundation is going to run out of money, or that the foundation will have to make promises it cannot keep.
4. Would the budget be in deficit, surplus, or balanced based on your answer to 3.
Answer: The budget is likely to be in deficit. More money is going out than is coming in.
5. How would you describe Eva Peron’s fiscal policy? Is it expansionary or contractionary?
Answer: An increase in government spending is expansionary fiscal policy.
6. Graph the aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves and based on your answer to 5, show how the graph changes in response to Eva’s spending.
Answer: Expansionary fiscal policy is designed to shift the aggregate demand curve to the right. This should increase output, and reduce unemployment, although it will also result in a higher price level. See the shift in the AD curve below.
“And the Money Kept Rolling In”
Che: [Intro]
and the money kept rolling in from every side
[Verse 1]
Eva's pretty hands reached out and they reached wide
Now you may feel it should have been a voluntary cause
But that's not the point my friends
When the money keeps rolling in, you don't ask how
Think of all the people guaranteed a good time now
Eva's called the hungry to her, open up the doors
Never been a fund like the Foundation Eva Peron
Workers:[Chorus]
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' on in, rollin' on in
Rollin' on in, rollin' on in
On in
Che: [Verse 2]
Would you like to try a college education?
Own your landlord's house, take the family on vacation?
Eva and her blessed fund can make your dreams come true
Here's all you have to do my friends
Write your name and your dream on a card or a pad or a ticket
Throw it high in the air and should our lady pick it
She will change your way of life for a week or even two
Name me anyone who cares as much as Eva Peron
workers: [Chorus]
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
On out
Che:[Verse 3]
And the money kept rolling out in all directions
To the poor, to the weak, to the destitute of all complexions
Now cynics claim a little of the cash has gone astray
But that's not the point my friends
When the money keeps rolling out you don't keep books
You can tell you've done well by the happy grateful looks
Accountants only slow things down, figures get in the way
Never been a lady loved as much as Eva Peron
[Chorus]
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
On out
[Che:][Verse 4]
Eva!!!
When the money keeps rolling out you don't keep books
You can tell you've done well by the happy grateful looks
Accountants only slow things down, figures get in the way
Never been a lady loved as much as Eva Peron
[Chorus]
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
Rollin' on out, rollin' on out
On out