Timely political and other commentary from an independent perspective
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Job creators aren't the rich
Here's an article from Bloomberg news, written by a very rich person, who turns the usual Republican baloney about rich "job creators" upside down. Check it out here. (Thanks to Maxine for sending me this.)
Not baloney at all. This is just one guy's opinion where the author says that jobs are created by demand and not by businesses. Well,do you think Steve Jobs started Apple because he had people telling him that if he invented a personal computer that they would buy it? No. And nobody told the Waltons that Americans were desperate for big-box low priced goods. New industries and lots of job creation start up because someone has capital to invest and is willing to take risks in order to achieve an adequate risk-adjusted return. And it's certainly not the lower/middle class that is creating these new industries.
Aren't you kind of missing the point? Steve Jobs, for example wasn't part of the "1%" -- what you call the non-"lower/middleclass". The two Steves weren't wealthy entrepreneurs and they didn't have that kind of backing for many years. They had a good idea for a product for which the demand was nascent, but which grew as did their product.
Same with lots of other products (Facebook, Fords, etc.)
Most people with wealth either inherited it or it came as a result of a business they built up. (Some, of course, did neither but speculated or got it by fraud -- see below.) The wealth didn't build up the business. You've got it backwards (or "upside down" as the author of the article you are commenting on would put it) -- the business built the wealth.
Now, in fact, some of the very wealthiest people out there didn't create anything: no novel ideas, no companies, no jobs. Michael Milken, one of the best known of these types was simply a smart (creative in an asocial or anti-social way) junk bond speculator, not a productive person.
I'm surprised that you raise this point, since imaginative inventors and entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American Dream -- building up companies gradually through hard work, patience, and by producing one or more products that "click". Only a handful of these get the big bucks from wealthy investors, but most don't grow their businesses that way.
You've completely missed the point. Job creation isn't solely a function of demand like the author claims. And whether or not the entrepreneur (like Jobs) has or doesn't have the capital himself is not relevant. It takes capital to start or grow a business. And that capital isn't coming from the lower or middle class
Not baloney at all. This is just one guy's opinion where the author says that jobs are created by demand and not by businesses. Well,do you think Steve Jobs started Apple because he had people telling him that if he invented a personal computer that they would buy it? No. And nobody told the Waltons that Americans were desperate for big-box low priced goods. New industries and lots of job creation start up because someone has capital to invest and is willing to take risks in order to achieve an adequate risk-adjusted return. And it's certainly not the lower/middle class that is creating these new industries.
ReplyDeleteAren't you kind of missing the point? Steve Jobs, for example wasn't part of the "1%" -- what you call the non-"lower/middleclass". The two Steves weren't wealthy entrepreneurs and they didn't have that kind of backing for many years. They had a good idea for a product for which the demand was nascent, but which grew as did their product.
ReplyDeleteSame with lots of other products (Facebook, Fords, etc.)
Most people with wealth either inherited it or it came as a result of a business they built up. (Some, of course, did neither but speculated or got it by fraud -- see below.) The wealth didn't build up the business. You've got it backwards (or "upside down" as the author of the article you are commenting on would put it) -- the business built the wealth.
Now, in fact, some of the very wealthiest people out there didn't create anything: no novel ideas, no companies, no jobs. Michael Milken, one of the best known of these types was simply a smart (creative in an asocial or anti-social way) junk bond speculator, not a productive person.
I'm surprised that you raise this point, since imaginative inventors and entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American Dream -- building up companies gradually through hard work, patience, and by producing one or more products that "click". Only a handful of these get the big bucks from wealthy investors, but most don't grow their businesses that way.
You've completely missed the point. Job creation isn't solely a function of demand like the author claims. And whether or not the entrepreneur (like Jobs) has or doesn't have the capital himself is not relevant. It takes capital to start or grow a business. And that capital isn't coming from the lower or middle class
ReplyDeleteFacebook and Ford both had early investors who helped get the companies off the ground
ReplyDeleteYou don't think that Facebook and Ford (as examples) required funding to get off the ground?
ReplyDelete