Letter: Enviable America?

Sir: Diane Coyle ("It's good to get rich, so let's abandon the politics of envy", 9 November) seems to think we should emulate America.

This is the country where President Clinton tells us that 13 children are shot dead every day. At least, that is what it says in The Independent in an article reporting unexplained gun attacks killing two adults in Seattle on Wednesday, and seven in an office meeting in Honolulu on Tuesday ("Assault teams comb Seattle in search of the camouflaged boatyard killer", 5 November).

Research around the world, including in the USA and the UK, shows that larger income differentials lead to higher crime rates, more drug addiction and more early deaths attributed to stress. Studies have shown that even when the real value of the poorest incomes is maintained, increases in income for those at the top cause a rise in infant mortality, for all social classes.

Let us be careful about imitating the USA.

W J HYDE

Offham, Kent