The recession is the Fed's fault

In the article "Keep Interest Rates Low, Economists Say," Dec. 30, Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, faults the increase in consumer and corporate debt for causing the recession.

Actually, in my opinion as an economist, Mr. Greenspan's agency should be faulted for causing the recession by boosting the discount rate from 1 percent, where it rested throughout the war years, to a maximum of 14 percent in 1981. The Federal Reserve's policy of keeping interest rates as high as possible has favored lenders at the expense of borrowers.

Economist David Levy, director of the Jerome Levy Economic Forecasting Center, contributes the most to this article by advocating "bold action" to make federal investments in our infrastructure. The article says that this would probably mean building new tunnels, bridges, and dams. Such measures might temporarily add to the present federal deficit, but eventually would prepare the way for the permanent retirement of the deficit, due to the revival of federal government receipts. Ardron B. Lewis, Brooklyn, Conn.

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