Taking a Look at Our Economic Woes

'A New Kind of Recession': Readers offered their own analyses of the plummeting consumer confidence that has weakened the U.S. economy. Coping with costly fuel, one reader said, "I'm driving my car only to and from work and trying to combine my errands." Some emphasized the need to buy American. Said one, "American consumers are a part of the problem with their insatiable desire for foreign goods." Another blamed the Iraq War for the sagging economy: "The economy is being dragged down by George Bush's war and the billions we are pouring into it."

Recession Panic
Fareed Zakaria laments that much of what government should do to improve Americans' future economic prospects "involves some short-term pain in exchange for long-term gain. But Washington has become incapable of that" ("How to Get Back to Growth," June 16). He's right. But he's wrong to suggest that this phenomenon is new, as this 1944 entry from the diary of the great Harvard economist Joseph Schumpeter attests: "Politicians are like bad horsemen who are so preoccupied with keeping in the saddle that they can't bother about where they go."
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, Va.

We as a nation have been guilty of far too many excesses for too long. We waste more than most in the rest of the world. It is time we sucked it in and tightened our belts. Our families, our nation and the rest of the world will only be better off.
Prashanth Kumar
Centerville, Ohio

It's said that we'd better not look for solutions from the same people who created the problem, and I think this is the case with our current economic crisis. NEWSWEEK's Business Roundtable ("We Ask: When Will the Pain Go Away?") is composed of individuals who either helped make the problem or are benefiting from the economy the way it is. The economy of a nation should support society, but ours does the opposite: we all sacrifice to support the economy (those who control most of the capital). None of the Roundtable members can think outside their boxes or see that our economic set-up needs a major evolution or it will collapse. Americans are no longer citizens, we're consumers, mere units whose only function is to go out and buy stuff. We need a major citizen revolt against the consumer identity.
Patricia Black
Nevada City, Calif.

Hillary Steps Down
Perhaps Hillary Clinton can do for post-primary depression what Brooke Shields did for postpartum depression: make the public more accepting of the disease by writing a book about it ("Out and Down," June 16). By sharing her experiences and emotions, Senator Clinton could comfort a wide audience: the elementary-school child who spent every free moment practicing but still did not make the team; the high-school senior who, after 12 years of studying and achieving, did not receive an acceptance letter to the Ivy League school; all those Americans who continue to ride the carousel of life without ever grabbing onto the brass ring. While Clinton's "once upon a time" did not end "happily ever after" for her, her book could serve as a reminder that the depression will pass, allowing the dedication, determination and diligence to emerge victorious.
Ronna L. Edelstein
Pittsburgh, Pa.

Who Will Be Obama ' s Veep?
I was pleased to see Jonathan Alter mention Brian Schweitzer, the Montana governor, as a possible vice presidential candidate for Barack Obama ("The Great Mentioner at Work," June 16). I have been wondering if anyone had thought of him for this position. Schweitzer would bring a number of assets to the ticket. He is down to earth and plain-spoken. He is, for lack of a better word, "folksy." He is also quietly brilliant. He has definitive ideas to solve our energy crisis with creative use of already known energy sources. With gasoline prices soaring to record highs every day, a running mate with these kinds of solutions would have much to bring to a ticket with Obama.
John Shine
Kingdom City, Mo.