Letter: Clinton's affair with the economy

YOUR leader ("Clinton flaws aren't fatal", 2 August) asserts that we Americans are "sadly mistaken" in believing that President Clinton has done a good job managing the US economy. The credit, in your view, should go to Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve bank. I think it is you who are sadly mistaken. Clinton inherited a $250bn deficit when he took office. He put together the best team of economic advisers in recent American history, the result of which reduced the deficit to zero in under four years. He also sent Congress the first balanced budget in two decades. Part of the team was Mr Greenspan, appointed originally by President Bush, but reappointed by Clinton. While Greenspan should get credit for keeping interest rates and inflation down, he was able to do so only because Bill Clinton kept him in his job.

You are also sadly mistaken in using Dick Morris, the now-discredited former Republican who worked briefly for Clinton before being fired, as a credible judge of the Clinton presidency. Being called a "borderline third-tier president" by him is like being called ugly by a frog.

W J Howell Jr

Much Wenlock, Shropshire