Getting Tough on Shady CEOs?
Your cover line declares, “Wanted: Shady CEOs Dead or Alive” (Business, Aug. 5). But it’s not just WorldCom, Enron and Adelphia that are in trouble. When will the former CEO of Halliburton be nailed as a “perpetrator”? And the former executive of Harken who made several million on a $500,000 loan from his company? Or the Enron executive who is now Army secretary? And the head of the SEC, a former Andersen executive? Looks like the whole government of the most powerful nation in the world is run by a bunch of crooks. Wilhelm Guschlbauer Bures-Sur-Yvette, France
I’ve followed the recent shenanigans of America’s CEOs and their cronies with distaste, disappointment and a sense of deja vu. The only surprise in this whole sorry saga is the complete lack of subtlety and guile employed by these masters of the universe as they arrogantly plundered the coffers. Perhaps they should have heeded the words of the 18th-century English statesman and friend of the Americas Edmund Burke, who wrote of the “low drudgery of avarice” dulling the imagination. It seems that one man’s corruption is another’s politics. When I read that memos between Exxon Mobil and the White House’s energy task force suggested that the oil company’s influence may have led to several policy moves, such as its decision last April to block the reappointment of the chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or that President Bush tinkered with the markets to placate crucial constituencies, I wonder where politics ends and corruption begins. In future, any CEO thinking of cooking the books could learn a thing or two about subtlety and guile from the White House. Robert Hazlegreaves Paralimni, Cyprus
Western media are so right to expose accounting irregularities of U.S. corporations. In Japan, financial institutions carry thousands of billions of yens of bad debts on their balance sheets–most of them irrecoverable. The amounts involved are more significant than those of Enron, WorldCom and Vivendi. The depreciation of such debts would be required by U.S. accounting standards, but that’s not happening in Japan. And yet the yen, the real reserve currency in the world, is as strong as ever. Investors seem confident in the money of a country where the government approves balance-sheet falsifications. Is it because the Japanese government and press, unlike the U.S. president, are keeping quiet on the subject? Louis de Bouvere Brussels, Belgium
Your disclosures (“The Mighty Fall”) were preceded by a European scandal that broke six months ago with a Swedish-Swiss company, the technical giant ABB. Percy Barnevik, as chairman and CEO, gave himself $90 million when he decided to leave the company. This raised cries of executive greed in the European press. Barnevik was ordered to give back much of his ill-gotten money and now stands accused in a Swiss court. But he has paid back only a tenth of the money he was to refund to ABB, which is now on the verge of collapse. Eric af Wetterstedt Leksand, Sweden
In his article, “The Next to Fall? Europe,” Richard Medley accurately pointed out the shortcomings of the European system, but failed to say that most of the gains made by European companies are spent in investments in the United States and that this is how the States can afford a gigantic trade deficit and deficit spending. What will happen when European companies stop making profits? They’ll want at least some of their money back to fill up the holes in their cash drawers. This will tighten the economic situation in a country that desperately needs as much free-flowing cash as possible to avoid another recession. Medley’s article makes me want to withdraw my money from the U.S. economy rather than continue to make more investments in Wall Street. Alf B. Meier Karpathos, Greece
The War on Junk Food
I find it absurd that to address the growing menace of obesity, some lawyers would urge their obese clients to sue companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, etc., which they hold responsible for their condition (“Fighting ‘Big Fat’,” Society & the Arts, Aug. 5). Do these lawyers honestly believe that if fast-food chains had been required to put labels on their products that read, say, OVEREATING CAN BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH, their clients would not have gained weight or that they would stop their eating binges? And how on earth can they prove that their clients’ calorie overload came exclusively from these restaurants? Roberto Palileo, M.D. Makati, Philippines
When children are eating all this junk food, it is important to ask, “Where are the parents?” The concept of sound nutrition (and the lack of it in junk food like potato chips, soft drinks, etc.) is not new. Parents buy and dispense the food, so, before thinking of starting legal action, let’s get the first line of defense organized. Second, why do schools fund their programs at the expense of students’ health? Vending machines do not have to dispense junk food–they can sell raisins, peanuts, granola bars, apples, oranges, juices and bananas. The kids will eat these healthful snacks if those are the only choices they are offered. They will learn to like these nutritious alternatives. This is a problem that can be fixed without lawyers. Don Ries Bucharest, Romania
The healthful traditional foods that are the staples of Asian populations contain whole grains and roots, vegetables and fruits, with beans and other legumes as their protein source. Unfortunately, these foods have gradually been replaced by Western junk foods that are considered “modern” by the affluent in Asia. And such junk foods contain sugar, animal proteins and saturated fats in large amounts without sufficient dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates or plant proteins. This is going to cause obesity and impaired glucose tolerance. Higher-income communities here will become obese, while the lower socio-economic class still has to fight malnutrition because of poverty and foodborne diseases that are a result of the lack of food safety. Another serious food- and health-related problem in Indonesia is that city workers who lose their jobs turn into street vendors without any basic knowledge of food hygiene or sanitation. Andry Hartono, M.D. Yogyakarta, Indonesia
I was disappointed in Ellen Ruppel Shell’s highly polemic and unsubstantiated attack on the Atkins-type diets (“It’s Not the Carbs, Stupid”). I’m not a follower of the Atkins diet, but I can recognize bad science and contradictions when they are presented. Countries like India and China may have added more fat and protein to their diets, but there is no evidence that they have reduced carbohydrates to the level required by the Atkins diet. Adding fat and protein to an already high-carb diet will obviously lead to obesity. The article also ignores the cultural factors that have resulted in weight gain in both India and China. In many developing countries, heavy people are considered more attractive–perhaps because wealth is needed to get fat. Indian movie idols, for example, have always been heavier than their U.S. or European counterparts. In China the necessity of having only one child per family has led to a tendency to spoil the child with the attention and food that half a dozen siblings might have had to share. Both China and India have advanced greatly in recent decades in agricultural production, and that allows their people to have greater access to protein sources. Naturally, people are eating more of it now. Marc Lippman Fes, Morocco
Peg Tyre’s article on fighting big fat was fascinating, but it failed to give the full magnitude of the problem of obesity in the United States. For example: since 1991, obesity among adults has risen by almost 60 percent nationally so that 18.9 percent of Americans are now obese. Obesity accounts for 300,000 premature deaths each year–second only to tobacco-related deaths–and accounts for 9.4 percent of national health-care expenditures. Then there are the human costs, with children developing type-2 diabetes at extremely young ages due to excess weight. Finally, the article fails to address the issue of lack of exercise. Sedentary activities such as playing video-games and watching TV may be as much to blame for the increase in obesity as the fast-food industry. David Beran Geneva, Switzerland
Your article on big fat was both thought-provoking and informative, but I am simply flabbergasted. Whatever happened to personal and parental responsibility? It does not seem possible that anyone in these times would be unaware of the risks presented by dietary excess in any form. Parents have no one to blame but themselves for their children’s unhealthy dietary preferences. No one is forced to march into McDonald’s and load up on what is euphemistically called “fast food.” Yes, it is fast, all right–only, it is the fast track to obesity, ill health and, ultimately, the grave. Doug Arbuckle Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Thanks for your expose on insomnia and other sleep disorders (“Why We Can’t Sleep,” Science & Technology, July 15). I have to point out, however, that insomnia is not a problem just of the developed world. We Africans are losing sleep over the hard times facing most of the continent. Please do us the favor of suggesting remedies for hardship-induced sleeplessness along with those of high-tech-induced insomnia. Ewelike Chinedu Uyo, Nigeria
Empowering a Military Dictator
I was not surprised to read your article on Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf (“Perils of Power,” Asia, July 8). But since then, Musharraf has changed his country’s Constitution and restored the discretionary powers of the president and provincial governors to remove the prime minister and the provincial chief ministers, respectively. There are no credible rules of the political game and no level playing field for all political parties and politicians, which will result in sham democracy after the elections in Pakistan. Western democracies should not be guided by short-term tactical advantages but must consider their long-term strategic goals, including encouraging a free democracy in Pakistan and neutralizing terrorist organizations based there. All financial assistance to Pakistan needs to be linked to the restoration of a genuine democratic process and the destruction of terrorist organizations and their infrastructure in that country. This would not only contribute to world peace but would be in the long-term interest of the Pakistani people. Vipul Thakore London, England
I refer to your article about Musharraf’s “weakening position.” It may not be so. In all probability, he may be counting shrewdly on U.S. support for the suppression of terrorism and economic aid for Pakistani moderates’ support. Musharraf’s enormous constitutional powers remind me of another dictator–Adolf Hitler, who, to consolidate internal support, rallied his people behind a common cause, namely that of vilifying Jews with the concept of a “Greater Germany.” Hitler succeeded with a nationwide approval of about 98.8 percent (and you say Musharraf claims 97 percent support?). Hitler stayed at Germany’s helm for 12 years, and it took foreign nations, not his own, to remove his regime. And Musharraf has not even started a war–yet. Tan Hong Boon Singapore
The Tragedy of Alzheimer’s
Thank you for your excellent, in-depth discussion of Alzheimer’s disease (“The Disappearing Mind,” Next Frontiers, June 24). Both my parents are suffering from this terrible disease. My father is 92. He had a stroke three years ago, and his brain and eyes make no contact with anyone; he’s always staring at the ceiling with an open mouth. My mother, at 83, has lost her short-term memory. She forgets what she had for lunch and who visited her yesterday, but repeats stories of her childhood, sometimes with imaginary details. I hope a cure can soon be found for this devastating disease. Paul Fan Guangdong, China
