The Way It Is

Jo Anne Bryce (Letters, Sept. 22) laments: “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, corporations gobble up their competition . . .,” and then asks, “Are we better off than in the 1970s?”

I don’t doubt that given the choice between two products of identical quality but different price, Bryce would choose the cheaper one. That is the basis behind the laws of supply and demand--”. . . farmers lose their farms to foreclosures . . .” and “smokestack industries shut down” because they are unable to compete economically. The undesirable circumstances described by her always have and always will exist. The simplest economic principles guarantee it.

In his book, “Free To Choose,” economist Milton Friedman does an excellent job of explaining the causes and effects of these basic laws of economics. One so concerned as Bryce would do well to read it instead of attempting to place blame for a process as old as civilization.

DAN BRENNAN

Granada Hills