Aside from the sheer numbers of cars, the second-worst trouble spot is traffic-light inefficiency. Traffic-light green time must be dictated by traffic patterns. Major arteries are often clogged because secondary and tertiary side roads have equal green-light time. If road A has 100 times the traffic of intersecting road B, then that is exactly what the traffic-light cycle must be.
WILLIAM REMER
Island Lake, Ill.
Overlooked Biz Books
In your survey of business books recommended by various executives, I was surprised that no one mentioned one by David Halberstam, who tragically died recently in a California automobile accident ["Executive Picks," May 21].This omission may be because The Reckoning is not a how-to book about running a business. However, it is the best book I ever read about international business, dealing with unfamiliar cultures, and the costs of arrogance, which is a characteristic not unknown in U.S. boardrooms. Halberstam examines the economies of the United States and Japan in the late 20th century by using as surrogates the No. 2 automobile companies in each nation, Ford and Nissan. This is a very large book on business and economics that reads like a good novel.As the price of oil climbed last year, I was moved to reread the book, and I found that if a few names and dates were changed, The Reckoning was as fresh as the day's headlines.
JAMES E. WATERS
Wilmington, N.C.
I'm surprised that "Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation From Stifling People and Strangling Profits" by Robert Townsend, the man who got everyone to "Try Harder" as former president and chairman of Avis Rent-a-Car, wasn't included in your list of best business books. It is practical, useful, and insightful and cuts through the jargon.
LARRY CLARKE
Yakima, Wash.
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