South letters

Last update: November 10, 2009 - 5:21 PM

A hybrid economy

A recent editorial about the failure of the United States to respond to the need for an H1N1 vaccine and the news about the looming disaster in our ash forests tell us something important about the economy. We can no longer hang on the myth of the private sector being the cure all for our economic and human needs. Businesses thrive when they make a profit or at least cover their expenses and are not interested, nor can they afford, to delve into projects and activities that yield low-level returns.

Public health and our environment are two areas that beg for something we already have in some sectors: a hybrid or mixed economy. Such a system combines the best of private-sector ingenuity and efficiency with the proven public sector's ability to respond to needs that do not yield profits or financial gain. It is time to extol the virtues of both instead of consistently branding government programs as complete failures, unable to meet the needs of society.

Producing a vaccine or protecting the health of our forests is a public need and a public good. We cannot rely on the private sector, which addresses needs based on their potential for profit. As the Star Tribune editorial explained, we must move from a 1940s mentality and provide for public needs through public solutions. We need a hybrid in our economy: government and private solutions to major problems.

ROBERT SHUMER

EAGAN

Tired of the talk

All the articles and talk about Democrats need to do this to get the vote and Republicans need to do that to get the vote; maybe all of them need to stop worrying so much about the vote and just do something that doesn't involve complaining about what the others are doing. People are just sick and tired of all the talk.

HARRIET JOHNSON

PRIOR LAKE