Economics and Its Influence in Rock and Roll Lyrics


  • "Speaking words of wisdom, let it be," The Beatles (Let it be).
    A call for floating exchange rates.

  • "In this bright future, you can't forget your past," Bob Marley and The Whalers (No woman no cry).
    The efficient markets hypothesis does not work.

  • "If you want my future, forget my past," Spice Girls (Wannabe).
    An asset price explaining the random walk theory to an investor..

  • "Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. The future's not ours to see." Doris Day (Que sera, sera).
    Asset prices are unpredictable.

  • "A little bit of Monica, in my life. A little bit of Erica, by my side. A little bit of Rita's, all I need. A little bit of Tina, is what I seek. A little bit of Sandra, in the sun. A little bit of Mary, all night long," Lou Bega (Mambo Number Five).
    Diversification is good.

  • "Coming down is the hardest thing," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Learning to fly).
    Downward adjustments have a bigger impact than upward adjustments. Black's leverage effect .

  • "What's goes up, must come down. What must rise, must fall," Allan Parsons Project (What's goes up...).
    Stock returns are mean reverting.

  • "There is something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear," Buffalo Springfield (For what is worth).
    The stochastic process of stock returns.

  • "Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do," John Lennon (Imagine).
    Let's assume perfect capital mobility.

  • "Wise men say: only fools rush in," Elvis Presley (Can't help falling in love).
    Herd behavior.

  • "You're not the only one. You're not the only one," The Rolling Stones (Mixed emotions).
    Need to relax the representative agent assumption.

  • "Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused," Eurythmics (Sweet dreams).
    Utility functions need a subindex.

  • "Girl you gotta let me know which way to go. Cause I need to know. I need to know" Marc Anthony (I need to know).
    Asymmetric information problem.

  • "Cause what she says sounds so unreal. Cause somehow I can't believe that anything should happen," Tal Bachman (She's so high).
    Peso problem.

  • "Up you win, down you lose" AC/DC (Dog eat dog).
    Long position.

  • "You've lost that loving feeling, Whoa that loving feeling. You've lost that loving feeling. Now it's gone, gone, gone... wooooh" Righteous Brothers (You've lost the loving feeling).
    The loving feeling is the option premium at expiration.

  • "Call me, call me any anytime. Call me in my life" Blondie (Call me).
    An American call option on a phone call. .

  • "People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening," Simon and Garfunkel (Sounds of Silence).
    The information content of trading.

  • "They're quite aware of what they're going through," David Bowie (Changes).
    Market makers know about informed traders during high volume periods.

  • "My mama told me there'd be days like this," Aerosmith (The Other Side).
    Mama had rational expectations.

  • "Baby I was afraid before but I'm not afraid anymore," Belinda Carlisle (Heaven is a place on Earth).
    Structural change.

  • "Please don't change, please don't break," Matchbox 20 (Real world).
    Structural breaks complicate everything.

  • "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for," U2 (I still haven't found what I'm looking for).
    High reservation price.

  • "I will survive. I will survive," Gloria Gaynor (I will survive).
    The CAPM.

  • "I can't live with or without you," U2 (With or without you).
    State-independence.

  • "The cold remains of what began with a passionate start" Billy Joel (A matter of trust).
    Initial conditions are irrelevant.

  • "Your mother warned you there'd be days like these. But she didn't tell when the world has brought you down to your knees," The Rembrandts (I'll be there for you -Theme of Friends).
    At time 0, mother knows the states of nature, but does not know which state will occur at time 1.

  • "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make," The Beatles (The end).
    Equivalent present values.

  • "They told me marriage was a give and take. Well you've shown me you can take.You've got some giving to do," WHAM! (Everything she wants).
    Credit risk in a swap.

  • "Don't underestimate the things that I will do" Adele (Rolling in the Deep).
    Simple Regression.

  • "Mmm bop, ba duba dop," Hanson (Mmmbop).
    Noise.


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    email: rsusmel@uh.edu