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Focus shouldn’t be on SARS’ economic impact

I was utterly disgusted while reading Dr. Tiejun Huang’s misleading submission, “China’s economy safe despite SARS” (May 23). 

While only cursorily mentioning SARS’ impact on the citizens of China and the international community, Huang instead asserts that SARS will not affect China’s economy in the long-term. It is perplexing that, as chief operating officer of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China, Huang’s flawed approach toward SARS mirrors that of Communist China. 

The outbreak of SARS can be attributed to the control of information, misinformation and manipulation by the Chinese government, all of which served to prevent “social instability” of the government. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China recently reported that, through various methods of censorship, China’s legal system allows for its leaders to control criticism, while also preventing the establishment of institutions that investigate health matters of public concern. 

Thus, China’s systematic denial and cover-up of the SARS health issue have severely obstructed the processes of identification, quarantine and development of preventative strategies against SARS. In fact, the SARS health issue only became public when mysterious cases developed globally and courageous doctors at Chinese hospitals broke the silence imposed by the government.

What I am most disgusted by is the fact that this is not the first time China has exacerbated a health crisis. In the 1990s, the AIDS virus began spreading in China, but the government-controlled media restricted its coverage, while leaders denied the existence of an epidemic. Due to governmental measures of manipulation and control of information, unaware families sold their infected blood to raise money, which further contributed to the spread of the AIDS virus.

For this reason, we must be critical when Huang confidently overstates the “ability and capability of the Chinese government to control SARS from spreading.” From China’s public health record, it is apparent that its governmental policies cost lives instead of saving them.

Through ineffective social policies and failed damage-control measures, the Chinese government has attempted to distort reality by masking the real humanitarian problem – that over 700 lives have been lost worldwide, over 8,000 remain infected without a cure, and countless Asian Americans have become the objects of irrational fear and hatred. 

Contrary to what Huang and the Chinese government want the global community to believe, the loss of human lives by SARS and its psychological effects on society should clearly outweigh its impact on the social stability and economics of Communist China.

Liang Guo Graduate student, marketing University of California, Berkeley

Tax cut would help average families

I was disappointed, but not surprised, by the unsigned editorial, “Tax cuts would benefit rich before poor” (May 28).

True, the lesser income earner’s break will be lower in terms of actual dollars, but the fact is that that person contributes much less to the IRS every April. Furthermore, the average family will now actually have an additional $1,100 to offset the predicted $1,200 UC fee increase, not that it has anything to do with Bush’s tax cut. So, isn’t this discount a boon?

Contrary to the editorial opinion, this tax cut will help average families, particularly those with kids. This summer, millions of taxpayers will receive checks, due to an increase in the dependent child credit from $600 to $1,000. The tax on dividends, the profit that corporations pay shareholders, has also been dramatically reduced. Previously they were rated at a person’s income tax level, a maximum of 38.6 percent, but now, to attract market investment, the top rate has been axed to 15 percent (the lowest will be 5 percent).

Additionally, capital gains tax has been reduced, also between 5 and 15 percent. Soon, money will begin to pour into the markets via equities and mutual funds, and corporations will have larger cash flows, resulting in their ability to create more jobs. An economic jump-start thanks to tax cuts – tax cuts for all.

Michael Brown First-year, business economics