Too much capital

Re: “Don’t blame the victims,” editorial, Oct. 25

Your analysis does not sufficiently blame the current economic situation on the oversupply of investment capital. There can be too much of a good thing.

Simply put, when good investment opportunity is used up, people must resort to bad investment. The situation is exacerbated when speculation replaces sound investment strategy. When speculation drove the stock market to unsustainable heights, investors switched to real estate. But real estate value was inflated by the very same investment pressure -- and when it became unsustainable too, investment money went into commodities, driving up the price of oil.

Losses sustained by investors will lower the pressure for a while, but the long-term solution is higher taxes on the rich. The alternative is a pogo-stick economy and inflation.

Richard J. Fisher

Chatsworth