The great inquiry

A satirical pastiche of official committee minutes stages a mock government inquiry into economic and social questions, reproducing formal procedures, testimonies, and comic illustrations. Witnesses range from industrialists and farmers to members of the political elite, whose self-interested arguments and bumbling exchanges expose protectionist reasoning, class assumptions, and bureaucratic pomposity. The narrative alternates recorded depositions, parliamentary interventions, and farcical disturbances to highlight the absurdity of public debate over tariffs, trade, and national policy. The work uses irony, caricature, and stage-like interruptions to critique rhetorical posturing and the gap between political rhetoric and practical understanding.