p.s. Any way to post a graph on the comments?

Don’t get too excited. They still don’t get it in DC… not sure they have since Reagan? As long as they believe that government & other large institutions drive the economy… progress will be difficult. (Doesn’t mean that we can’t do a lot locally. States & cities can make a difference (I blogged briefly on the Growthology graph — http://entrepreneurshipidaho.blogspot.com **)

It’s very hard to help a bottom-up phenomenon when you see the world top-down & driven by large institutions. Everyone in DC is looking for the big policy levers & that’s not what is needed. Entrepreneurs keep changing the competitive rules (uppity little boogers, aren’t they? LOL)

Anyway, entrepreneurs and bureaucrats think VERY differently — would you rather create jobs or preserve jobs? creating jobs entails destroying jobs but creating value. Preserving jobs ends up losing jobs & eroding value.

As for the impact of an administration, it’s hard to tell but here’s a stat to consider: There were MORE layoffs in the 2000-2001 recession than in the current recession (!) The net job loss is greater because job *creation* has been much worse than in 2000-2001. Entrepreneurs are simply not creating jobs at even the usual rate for a recession. We need to rekindle their confidence -and that won’t be easy, though that won’t be as hard as removing a growing number of disincentives to hire.

Almost always, the entrepreneurial/small biz sector leads the economy out of recessions – it has not happened this time. Net business formation is down -and the rate of high-potential entrepreneurship has been in decline for years. But, again, bottom-up efforts can still make a difference.

** yes, I’m on Blogger and, yes, i don’t blog often enough…LOL

http://www.growthology.org/ – check out the graph!