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The stock market's plunging as of this writing, as the global economy reels from the destructive consequences of austerity economics. Yet in Washington, politicians are moving full speed ahead in their determination to impose a rigorous new program of... austerity economics.

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The old folks used to say money was "the root of all evil." Anyone watching our economy over the last few years might be tempted to say that "evil is the root of all money," or to paraphrase that old John Lennon lyric about God and say that "Money is a concept by which we measure our pain."

But there's more to be said on the subject - by Kanye West and Jay-Z, by William Jennings Bryan, by the great Chuck D and the immortal Otis Redding.

Pain Threshold

Last week economist Jared Bernstein mentioned Buddhism's "Eightfold Path" in a blog post. I hope I didn't embarrass him by drawing attention to it. Frankly, I was mostly killing time. My activities are limited because one of my hands is in a brace. It's the result of days spent obsessively playing and rearranging an old song to try making a version that's my own - not as good as other versions, maybe, but my own. My tendons and muscles aren't used to that kind of work anymore.

So with the one-finger magic of Twitter I mentioned Bernstein's link and wondered if economics might be the science of quantifying dukka. That Buddhist word is usually translated from Pali as "sorrow." In one of those fun, unexpected online moments, Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg replied that "Dukka = Pain." I responded, "$ is a concept by which we measure our pain."

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The American people have just endured a months-long bipartisan battering with words, as politicians and talking heads from both parties insist that they "take their medicine" by enduring severe austerity cuts. Against all evidence, they were told that this would be good for the economy. This illogical argument only has credence because Washington's filled with followers of a free-market religion whose deity is the Market, whose Oracle is the stock exchange, and whose clergy includes bishops named Greenspan, Geithner, Rubin, and Rivlin.

But if Democrats are true believers, Republicans are this religion's fundamentalists. All they need to do is repeat the sacred phrase "Tax cuts produce jobs!" and the whole congregation forms into ranks, prepared to do battle.

Believers in the One True Market believe that their Deity can only be propitiated when they sacrifice the sick, the elderly, and the poor. This lowers government expenditure and reduces political pressure to make the rich and powerful pay their fair share. We're told that this sort of sacrifice reassures the wealthy. These minor deities will then invest and create new jobs, which is why they're given the ritual title of "Job Creator" or "Wealth Creator."

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Disappointing jobs report sends stocks tumbling, more »

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