Prosecution of Michael Milken

It would be wise to take counsel from those experts with a longer tenure of study of the free enterprise system. John Kenneth Galbraith, in his article “The 1929 Parallel” (Atlantic Monthly, January, 1987) noted: “Nothing so gives the illusion of intelligence as personal association with large sums of money. . . . The mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, leveraged buyouts, their presumed contribution to economic success and market values, and the burden of debt they incur are the current form of that illusion.”

The Constitution affords a presumption of innocence for all those dwelling on American soil, including Michael Milken. Both of the columns missed the point (though Stein came close) of the “illusion” to which Galbraith refers and of which Milken is a primary purveyor. That illusion is one of greed masquerading as wisdom.

Great attention has lately been given to the issue of ethics, in the media, in the business schools, and by the public in general. Yet for all the discussion, no one is addressing the underlying issue of America’s current economic condition. To wit: In the overbearing rush, by an elite few, to bleed cash out of the body corporate, small investors, labor, and taxpayers have been forced unwittingly to shed their own lifeblood: savings and equity.

The short-term goal of greed, combined with end-justified means, cannot result in the greater good of the economy or society. Yet, with our nation’s economic fate hanging in the balance, neither the Administration nor the Congress are addressing the crucial economic issues as they should. It is clear that no one currently in a position to do anything about our future understands 1929’s painful lesson from the past.

RICHARD N. MEYER

Los Angeles