Alan Greenspan

* Alan Greenspan’s comments about the stock market being too high were unwanted and uncalled for (“Greenspan Talk Sends Markets Into Nosedive,” Dec. 7). If he is so concerned about the little investor losing his shirt, he certainly must have known that his comments would cause a drop of 100 points or more, panicking small unsophisticated investors, causing the devaluation of their portfolios and the dollar, which raised the cost of trade.

I think Greenspan has been listening to his bearish friends a little too much. Monday’s resurrection of the market by 82 points shows that Greenspan is not king, and that it’s time for him to retire.

ALLEN AXELROD

North Hollywood

* Re the Dec. 5 editorial on the consumer price index: The last time the government shafted the people it was with inflation under Jimmy Carter; the net effect was a decrease in buying power, which forced women into the work force so families could make ends meet. If you think we do not have inflation, just look at the stock market and the artificially held low interest rates. Greenspan is just the titular head of the Fed; in reality it is run by Robert Rubin and Wall Street and Bill Clinton as beneficiary.

If the government wants to save money, it should stop sending so much abroad plus cut the military budget to the bone; nobody is going to attack the U.S. It is much more likely that we’ll destroy ourselves from within, like other empires gone before us.

E.A. WEESE

Canoga Park