(FORTUNE Magazine) – THE MEXICAN SOLUTION

"It's Time to Get Real About Mexico" (September 4) gives every appearance of having been written to fit a preconceived agenda of Mexico bashing. You ignore the achievements of President Zedillo's government in implementing policies to tackle political and economic problems--the dramatic improvement in most macroeconomic indicators (trade and budget surpluses, a steep drop in interest rates), the continuing peace talks in Chiapas, the far-reaching judicial reform now under way, and last year's presidential elections, judged by domestic and international specialists as transparent and democratic. Mexico, and your readers, deserve better. JORGE PINTO Consul General of Mexico New York City

I lived in Mexico for 38 years. There was, there is, and there is going to be lots of talk about solutions. There is none but this: Mexico needs a military dictatorship for ten years to rid itself of the terrible poison of the PRI. It is the only way out. GEORGE HADDAD San Antonio THE PAYOFF FROM CORRUPTION (CONT'D)

I have serious doubts that corruption would add 5% to the operating cost of foreign businesses in China ("How Corrupt Is Asia?" News Trends, August 21). Basically, paying bribes is just a redistribution of wealth among different economic agents within the system. It makes more sense to view corruption in China as a way to privatize the state-owned economy.

For example, a businessman friend from Korea gave a Chinese customs officer two gold necklaces and got a whole container of goods entered without paying one penny of customs tax. Because the two necklaces cost much less than the customs tax he should pay, his operating cost is actually lower.

The real problem for an American businessman in China could be how to find the right person to bribe. But the cost of this learning process should not add 5% to operating costs if you are reasonably smart. And I've been amazed at how smart those foreign business people I met in Beijing are, and how fast they learn. WEIWEN XIONG Doctoral candidate in economics, Texas A&M College Station

WHO WINDS UP AT THE TOP

Two of Marshall Loeb's columns (You Inc., August 7 and September 4) suggest he has wandered from being a serious observer to chasing fads, especially regarding changing jobs. As a president of a fast-growing, highly successful private company who has needed to greatly increase staff to facilitate growth, I throw resumes in the basket if the applicant has had more than a few jobs, and give much preference to those who have had fewer jobs. Isn't that common? You say that typically people will have ten jobs. Do they accomplish more than those who've had two or three? Are they happier? Are they more employable for the next job?

According to you, the new morality is to be more loyal to your career than to your company. Do quality employers really want such people? Can quality businesses really proceed that way? The truth is that many job hoppers end up with much less, and that most top jobs are filled by people who stayed with their companies a long time. Isn't that true for Marshall Loeb too? EDWARD SATELL President, Progressive Business Publications Malvern, Pennsylvania

IN DEEP WITH MR. BING

As a longtime devotee of Stanley Bing, I am gratified that the "Bingster" has found a new home. As a manufacturer of kimchi, I take umbrage at the implication that it is something one would not want to be deep in ("Message: You're in Deep Kimchi," While You Were Out, August 7).

Made of cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, ginger, garlic, carrot, scallion, sweet red pepper, and spices, kimchi is delicious, all natural, and something that would be very desirable to be "deep in." I submit that nourishment for the body from kimchi and nourishment for the mind from Stanley Bing is the perfect combination for the 1990s. JIM REICHERT Co-owner, Sunja's Fine Asian Foods Mount Kisco, New York

WHAT GOES AROUND...

I was surprised at the contempt of your Generation X letter writers for the boomers in "Busted Boomers: Here's the Wake-Up Call" (July 24). They appear to have a deep anger and fear that they may be called upon to assist their elders and parents; they seem to think their parents acted irresponsibly, and that the burden of this frivolity should not fall on them. I wonder how they would have reacted had the old folks said, "Pay for your own college! I have to save for my retirement."

I do not have any children, yet I am required, through my taxes, to finance the education of other people's kids. I am not on welfare, yet I am required to provide subsistence to the poor and the hopelessly unemployable. I am not indigent, but I know that when I go the hospital, I am paying a premium to cover the extra costs of those without insurance.

In terms of greed, selfishness, and meanness of spirit, the Xers are living up (or down) to the image boomers had in the 1980s. We taught them too well. GEOFFREY K. WASCHER Utica, Michigan

WITH THE GREATEST RESPECT

Re "How a Little Company Won Big by Betting on Brainpower" (The Leading Edge, September 4): As the former national sales manager for Taco's marine electronics division, I had the good fortune to work with one of the last great manufacturing industrialists in the Northeast. Basic home-grown design ingenuity helped build this company from the $30 million in annual sales that I remember to today's $85 million-plus, with no need or greed to go public.

Both John Hazen White and his son were a pleasure to work with in the early 1980s. They taught a green college kid from Boston how to survive in the competitive business world of manufacturing. Thank you, Mr. White, for propelling this anxious young buck into the global world of trade! Yes, the on-the-job education "does come back to you," even if it is only in the form of the highest respect. BRAD WHITE (no relation) Director of Business Development Sharper Image San Francisco

CORRECTION

In Your Desktop (August 21), the phone number given for Fujitsu Computer Products of America was incorrect. It should have been 800-626-4686. FORTUNE regrets the error.