The solution to that would be to make the epoxy that holds the wire together such that it won't be able to withstand the heat of reentry (not very hard, I imagine). Thus, all of the wire more than a few miles up will disintegrate into microscopic carbon filament when it hits the atmosphere.

It's already been determined that the best place to anchor the wire would be in the middle of the ocean (to avoid grounding issues) so the bit that doesn't burn up is unlikely to hit anything important.

Some guy wrote a great and very in-depth report in association with NASA as to the feasibility of a space elevator. He concluded that it is just as feasible now to build an elevator as it was to go to the moon in 1960.

Granted, I don't think the current crop of yahoos at NASA could pull something like this off, but NASA is the organization that went to the moon for Christ's sake. I'm sure that with enough capital investment and enough rolling heads, NASA could be restored to its former glory enough to build such a device.

Also, I think that an elevator is the only way to make space affordable. No engine that has to carry six kilos of fuel for every one kilo of superstructure and payload will ever be affordable to the average person.