Depression Hurts

The end of what prosperity [Oct. 13]? For more than 20 years, working-and middle-class Americans have seen their jobs go overseas, wages diminish and savings disappear; they've had retirement funds stolen by companies going bankrupt or merging, and health care made unavailable as a result of cost. Suggesting that borrowing to live is the cause of the Wall Street collapse when the 400 richest people in the U.S. have as much money as several million average citizens shows ignorance of the greed and avarice controlling this country.
Paul A. Heller, WASHINGTON, MICH., U.S.

Some anonymous people caused great damage to the U.S., the world economy and many innocent people. Why do you avoid telling us their names? I would like to see something like a scoreboard, showing the names of the wrongdoers, what money they made and the sum of money needed to get out of the mess.
Alfred Feldmann, BREMEN, GERMANY

Nowhere does Niall Ferguson inform readers that under the Clinton Administration, the Internal Revenue Service began giving out Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to assist illegal aliens in paying taxes, which also enabled them to take out home loans. Previously, a valid U.S. Social Security number was required to purchase a home, thereby excluding illegal immigrants from qualifying for such loans. Every media feature on the bursting of the housing bubble describes decimated neighborhoods in Florida, Arizona and California — all areas with large populations of illegal aliens — but no one tells us about the government's change in regulations that may have helped bring this situation about.
Kathryn Bell, FRISCO, TEXAS, U.S.

Your cover is a direct insult to those who lived through the Depression. If we can still spend $300 on an iPod, times can't be so bad. Yes, the economy is slowing, but not as severely as TIME has illustrated.
John Nicoletti, NAPLES, FLA., U.S.

May I congratulate your magazine 
for its great journalism of recent weeks. For us on Main Street who are not up with the latest economic lingo, the clear and understandable articles have kept me well informed. It's a shame that the policymakers and moneymen of this world are not as informed about history as Professor Ferguson, and don't realize it always repeats itself.
Jason Williams, CARDIFF BAY, CARDIFF

For years CEOs and other managers have been receiving huge bonuses and severance payouts, even if they did a bad job (and they did, as the present situation shows). Wouldn't it be better to give them shares of their own company instead? And no money. This way, if they do a good job, they get the gain on the shares. And if they don't, too bad, let them suffer.
Veronique Braem, STERREBEEK, BELGIUM

The current financial crisis is the result of house owners who defaulted on their bond repayments. The obvious reason for this is flatly ignored. The sharp increase in crude-oil prices shortly before the financial crises sucked cash directly from the pockets of the consumers, which then forced them to default on their bond payments. Strong action is taken against cartels in business worldwide, but not against OPEC. It seems to be untouchable. The OPEC members are probably using all the cash sucked from the consumers to buy up stocks of companies in the industrialized world at half price. Unless the stranglehold of OPEC on the world's oil supply is broken, the world will remain at its mercy.
Willem Boshoff, WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA

Trickle-Down Gluttony
Kudos to Nancy Gibbs on her essay [Oct. 13]. As an early baby boomer, I was raised on the stories of thrift and sacrifice that came from my parents, who had grown up during the Depression and World War II. When George W. Bush suggested that the way to be patriotic after 9/11 was to go shopping, I was appalled. We have seen that message repeated over and over — including two incentive checks from our government so we could spend even more money we didn't really have. So excuse me if I have a hard time believing that it is either the "evil bankers" or the "irresponsible home buyers" who are to blame for the present mess.
Kathy Hornsby, CARROLLTON, GA., U.S.

Newman's Own Legend
I enjoyed reading Robert Redford's tribute to Paul Newman but was disappointed that Redford felt the need to interject so much about himself [Oct. 13]. He should have kept the focus entirely on his exceptional and talented friend.
Mary Knaus LeCluyse,
 LEAWOOD, KANS., U.S.

I'm glad I didn't know Paul Newman. It is hard enough to lose him, as millions of us did, as the fine actor that he was and as an example of what we Americans should be. Take care of yourself, Mr. Redford. You're too good to lose.
Hunter A. Poole Sr., RALEIGH, N.C., U.S.

The Palin Mystique
Michael Weisskopf and Nathan Thornburgh's "Pipeline to Nowhere?" enlightened me on several levels [Oct. 13]. First, although paying her constituency understandably enhances Sarah Palin's popularity, it chafes me a bit. Doesn't Alaska belong to all of us? Why should part of the price I pay at the gas pump go into an Alaskan's pockets just because she lives there? Second, the story demonstrates Palin's worthiness to be McCain's running mate, since they both overstate their accomplishments.
Vince Sigman, MALTA, OHIO, U.S.

When I look at Sarah Palin's expression of wonder it looks like she arrived by parachute — and didn't even know that she was on an airplane.
Camillo Machnizh, BRAZIL

There is one final grand gesture open to George W. Bush to redeem his presidency — sell Alaska back to the Russians. Immediately.
Oliver McQuillan, DUBLIN

What a pity Doris Day is not around to play Palin in the inevitable biopic. Picture the scene in the Boeing as she is sworn in on the way to the White House. The dream scene for America's hockey moms and 
 B-movie fans. Please, America, for the sake of the free world in complex and troubled times — get real!
Brenda Cherwell, BEVERLEY, ENGLAND