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DECEMBER 13, 2004
Where's The Sturdy VW Of The Computer Industry? As for Michael S. Dell, the problem is not the hardware ("Thinking out of the box," The Great Innovators, Nov. 22)! Dell Inc. (DELL ) may have invented a great way of distributing personal computers, but that is not of great help for the average PC user, who has to fight almost daily with crashes, viruses, firewalls, spam, security gaps, updates, and software incompatibility. Will a real innovator ever give us a reliable working tool -- a "Beetle" of the computer industry? Salvatore Algieri Worms, Germany How To Fix Social Security Do the election results really provide a mandate to revise the Social Security system ("What's ahead for Social Security," News: The United States, Nov. 22)? These funds have been lent to the U.S. federal government, which will pay up on this debt in the same manner as it intends to pay up on all of its debt. The security of U.S. debt instruments is trusted by many U.S. and foreign investors who would be quite alarmed to learn that their investments may be in jeopardy of nonpayment. We must believe that Social Security funds are equally well-invested and benefiting from a growing economy. Otherwise, we are left to believe that the wealthy beneficiaries of the tax cut are, in effect, investing our Social Security funds for their own benefit with no obligation to pay back the principal or the investment earnings. Carol Laurich Oceanside, Ore.   Squandering U.S. Capital On Imported Trivialities The current account deficit can grow for years to come, but there are big penalties to pay ("The trade gap: How long can it go on?" Economics, Nov. 22). Because of large past borrowings from external sources rather than domestic savings, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 60% of its exchange value against the Japanese yen and some strong European currencies. The continuing merchandise trade deficits are also associated with reduced domestic production, employment, and investments. The habits of U.S. shoppers may be very hard to change. Yet in the process of buying inexpensive foreign goods, we are exchanging hard capital assets such as American real estate and corporations for trivial consumer goods. As a nation, we should persuade ourselves to invest in more U.S. capital assets rather than go on purchasing foreign-made disposables. Instead of enriching foreign countries, we would be enriching ourselves. Robert G. Vambery Pace University New York Carnival: Steering Clear Of Taxes In "Carnival: plenty of ports in a storm" (News: The United States, Nov. 15), in which you point out the company's exceptional earnings of $1.8 billion for fiscal 2004, you failed to mention that Carnival and other cruise lines manage to pay almost no federal income tax or state corporate tax -- thanks to their successful lobbying efforts, which have succeeded in maintaining tax loopholes big enough to sail the Queen Mary through. Lawrence Berk Ventura, Calif. The Democrats Should Show Some Sportsmanship Re "Uniting, not dividing: A blueprint for Bush," Economic Viewpoint, Nov. 15). Jeffrey E. Garten should have written to exhort the opposition party to rally behind their President in a spirit of fairness, sportsmanship, and patriotism. Why should the burden be on Bush to bend over backward to accommodate issues and personalities that have been rejected by a majority of the American electorate? We know Bush will act responsibly without the burden of Mr. Garten's "blueprint." Reg Urgena Sedona, Ariz. Radio And Broadband: Crossed Signals The National Association for Amateur Radio has participated in testing in a number of the broadband over power lines (BPL) marketing trials and has seen interference to radio reception in each of the sites their staff and volunteers have examined ("Easy broadband -- and smarter power," Science & Technology, Nov. 22). Your article also did not address the reverse problem of interference to BPL by licensed, legally operating radio systems. Tests by amateur radio operators show that even a few watts of transmitter power nearby can cause the BPL system temporarily to stop working. Amateur radio operators are not against BPL, but rather against the pollution of wide areas of the radio spectrum by interference from BPL. Allen Pitts Media and Public Relations Manager National Association for Amateur Radio Newington, Conn.
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