It is time we give our banks a purpose different than that of surviving.

Sir, Mort Zuckerman in “How we can get America working again” February 25, as so many do, identifies the lack of jobs as one or perhaps the most serious challenge facing all here, there, and everywhere.

If that is so and our banks are supposed to allocate capitals why do we not throw out those capital requirements for banks based on perceived risk, and which obviously did not serve us well, and adopt capital requirements based on job creation potential as certified by job creation rating agencies?

There are businessmen in what is rated AAA and then there are all the others

Sir, Mort Zuckerman writes about the need for Obama to bring in more senior business people in order to bridge the current gulf, “Only business can put Obama back on top”, December 16. He is right, but in this respect both Mr Zuckerman and Mr Obama need to remember that there are two quite different types of business people, there are those active in what is rated as AAA and then there are all those who work in the rest of the economy. It is the latter who need urgently to be more present, since listening even more to the former, might only dig Obama’s presidency even deeper into the hole were inept financial regulators have placed the US and much of the world.