Economic Problem Solvers

Mortimer B. Zuckerman's editorial that the government must do something to avoid a recession is wrong ["Avoiding a Deep Recession," October 27]. The best thing government can do is stay the hell out of it. Of course, this will never happen because there has never been a politician who can see further than the next election. There has never been a congressional aide who has not wanted to protect himself by giving short-term advice. We have a classic example of a bunch of venal nincompoops coming out with nonsolutions and the country paying for them. Americans have been amazingly successful in solving their problems when government doesn't step in and screw it up. We should give it a try; it has worked before and it will work again.

James R. Doty
Bakersfield, Calif.

Zuckerman catches the real key point of whether or not the next president is going to be successful. In the last paragraph of his editorial he states: "The new administration has to draft the best of our national talent to shape and manage these new policies." None of the candidates seems to espouse that the people they get to surround them will be the key to our country's political, economic, and moral survival. Hopefully, the country will re-emerge as a respected nation around the world and have a leader that others will want to emulate.

Bob Schieck
Antioch, Ill.