The Other Side of the `Clintonomics' Coin
Regarding the Opinion page article "Clintonomics: a Loser," July 15: As an economics adviser to former President Reagan, Beryl W. Sprinkel is presumably one of the architects for our present economic crisis and hardly a credible critic of Gov. Bill Clinton's proposals for mitigating that disaster.
Mr. Sprinkel clings to the old "trickle-down" theories that have bankrolled only the very wealthy while bankrupting the country. Whether Mr. Clinton's strategies will work for America remains to be seen, but they are based, in large part, on observations of what has worked in Japan and Germany, whose economic successes are well known. Kathe Geist, Nagoya, Japan
Would the Monitor have published an article by the captain of the Titanic on safe seamanship? Then why did Beryl Sprinkle critique Gov. Bill Clinton's economic policies? Mr. Sprinkel was one of the officers in command of that economic ship known as Reaganomics, which sank with disastrous results.
A partial list of casualties includes the middle class, the poor, and the uneducated. The author suggests that Clintonomics is a loser, which it is not, while conveniently overlooking the disaster he helped make.
Like a rainbow, Reagan-omics looked beautiful, but when you grabbed for its substance, it turned out to be an illusion. Clintonomics is not an illusion but a solid agenda for cleaning up the economic debris. Taft Lowell, Arlington Heights, Ill.
In the article in which the author predicts that "Clintonomics" will be a loser, there appears to be an assumption that anything unlike Reaganomics is unworkable. The author served under Reagan and helped shape the economics of the disastrous 1980s. Perhaps he should refrain from predictions into the future but rather analyze the mistakes of the past. George P. LaMarsh, Guilford, Conn. The German economy
Regarding the front page article "When German Rates Rise, Europe Listens," and the news articles "Stronger German Mark Deepens Italy's Debt Crisis" and "France Plays Down German Move in Bid to Dispel Jitters Over EC," July 22: The financial problems facing Germany, and the whole of Europe, stem substantially from the poor policies followed by Bonn's agency for privatizing former East German properties known as the Treuhand.
In its frenzy to relieve Bonn of burgeoning debt by liquidating property confiscated by the former East Germany, the agency blatantly disregards the rights of the original owners. Such properties should be returned to the rightful owners when possible, or those owners should be paid just compensation when not. This would allow free enterprise to function and not extend a government financing scheme thus far apparently doomed to failure. The sooner this can be accomplished, the sooner real unity and progr ess can begin both in Germany and throughout Europe. Margrit Zimmerman, Seattle Reporting on outbreak in Bristol
The News Currents section "Europe," July 22, reports on three nights of "mob rampage" in Bristol, England. This is a rather exaggerated description of what actually took place. The incidents referred to were in fact confined to a single housing estate in Hartcliffe, South Bristol. While the incident was indeed serious and led to a number of arrests by local police, it was in no way comparable to the scale of unrest in Los Angeles. Alistair Budd, London
