Letter: Millennium children

Sir: As the millennium closes, our contemplations must inevitably compare the last few centuries with the next.

This raises the question "What are our options?" Do we continue with the nations of the world following or aspiring to economic models which always depend on growth when growth is not consistent with fairness to all?

Are we to continue to permit the use of money and similar "tools" to be used for the creation of profit rather than creating value through manufacture and services? Will we also allow this "globalisation" to be as inevitable as some would have us believe? The use of technology is a benefit but should it be for all rather than a few?

I do not pretend to know all the answers but perhaps our vision should be one of personal pride in service, in creating wealth for the nation and the world and not just for ourselves. I do know that the West's economic systems will fail us eventually and that we need to move to an alternative over time, rather than being forced by circumstances which will panic the world to reactive action.

PETER BROWN

Earl Sterndale

Derbyshire