Please, No More ‘Favors’

Regarding James Flanigan’s Dec. 23 column, (“Job Security May Be Getting Too Expensive”):

It seems that whenever the government does the public a “favor,” in this case, by breaking up AT&T;:

- We have more unemployment.

- The service costs a lot more.

- We have to buy our own instruments.

- We now have to fix our own inside wiring.

But the government is not consistent. For instance, it encouraged and abetted Hughes Aircraft’s acquisition by a giant corporation, General Motors, which already had vast holdings. Again we have more unemployment.

The same thing happens with people who get financing to buy out companies. After they get control of the target company, they break up the company into bits and sell the bits off. Or, if the old board of directors gets panicky, they protect their jobs with “greenmail,” leading to more layoffs and pay cuts.

MARVIN J. LETTVIN

Culver City