Seriously? This statement is disingenuous at best and should be an insult to any person who believes in the spirit and power of American entrepreneurialism. It should be especially offensive to any small business person that is in the trenches of free market capitalism and understands the cold, unemotional basics of supply and demand.
Is it conceivable that any business owner would turn away customers for their product because they are not certain of the 2013 tax code? Would any business owner with customers standing in line refuse to increase production of their product because of a perceived cost impact of Obamacare? Certainly not! “Go home everyone. I can’t sell you any more chairs because of Obamacare.” Seriously?
The fundamental concept of capitalism is that if there is a sufficient demand for a product, an enterprising business person will find a way to sell that product at a profit. End of story. It is especially insulting to all the small businesses, the ones responsible for most of the jobs in the United States, that some voices say those small businesses are ignoring demand for their products due to tax code uncertainty and Obamacare. Such rhetoric is clearly politically motivated and not closely associated with reality. Think America, think. This is not a hard concept.
What is exquisitely hard is creating or increasing market demand. Given the demographics and income distribution in the United States, it is unequivocal that demand is not driven by the wealthy; it is a function of the middle class. Providing financial incentives to the wealthy has a vanishingly small impact on overall market demand. “It’s the middle class, stupid.”
Unfortunately, the middle class and its associated purchasing power have been dwindling for decades. The key to economic recovery and job growth depends on restoring the financial engine of the middle class which is the foundation of demand. ( See Robert Reich’s “Basic Bargain“) Once demand increases, I have full confidence that business will respond by increasing production and hiring employees to meet that demand regardless of tax structure or Obamacare. It’s really quite straightforward.
“If you build it, they will come” is a memorable line from the film, Field of Dreams. “If you repeal Obamacare, they will buy my product” seems a bit absurd.
Confronting Mediocrity 