Irrational exuberance

Call us simple-minded, but cartoonists can sometimes reduce complex ideas to a few economical lines. According to Tom Toles’ high-flying concept, our daring, center-ring national borrow-and-buy act has come full circus. Matt Davies, and his uncle, speculate on whether the half-price barrel is half full or half empty. And Mike Keefe spreads a wealth of information on the gap between the have-nots and the have-lots. Give these guys credit for some pretty savvy collective deadpan derision, even if they can’t explain partial swaps of collateralized debt derivatives.

--Joel Pett