Posted on 06/15/2011 10:55:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
In spite of all the yapping about banks not lending to small businesses, only 8% of businesses report getting loans as a problem according to the National Federation of Independent Business. In contrast 25% say getting customers is the number one problem.
An increasing number of owners cite rising inflation as a problem.
Please consider Small Business Optimism Dips Lower in May
The Index of Small Business Optimism fell 0.3 points in May to 90.9. This month marks the third monthly decline in a row. The proximate cause is the fact that 1 in 4 owners still report weak sales as their top business problem. Consumer spending is weak, especially for services, a sector dominated by small businesses. the index makes clear that optimism is moving in the wrong direction: a recession-level reading for an economy fighting its way through a recovery. Also, inflation is a growing concern now with 1 in 10 citing this as their most serious business problem meaning cost side pressures coming in the back door, not rising food prices at home.Highlights From NFIB Report
Corporate profits may be at a record high, but businesses on Main Street are still scraping by, said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg. Washington is throwing misdirected policies at the problem, offering tax breaks for hiring and equipment investment, but acting surprised when they dont bear any fruit. The failure to understand why small-business owners are not hiring or investing has resulted in a set of policies that have not been very effective, and Main Street is suffering. The icing on the cake: the growing debt, large deficits, threats of higher taxes, regulations being spewed out by state and local administrations, and the uncertainty of the new health care lawis it any wonder that optimism is down?
This is no time for fatalism or for traditional political agendas. The central irony of financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, borrowing and lending, and spending, it is only resolved by increases in confidence, borrowing and lending, and spending. Unless and until this is done other policies, no matter how apparently appealing or effective in normal times, will be futile at best.You have to be a Keynesian nutcase to believe more spending is the solution to problems caused by too much spending. Such policies have never cured one problem in history, yet proponents of such policies never learn.
Unexpected!
Slash corporate tax rates, furlow the EPA, OSHA, and the entire Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Energy, and Interior for 2 years. Issue oil drilling permits anywhere there is even the hint of petroleum. And then stand back and watch things get better.
Freedom, in other words.
“Like a frightened turtle, Jerry!”
The high cost of gasoline, caused by Obama’s ban on domestic oil drilling, will keep customers out of the stores. High energy costs also drive up the cost of groceries, another nail in the coffin of this dead economy.
With people struggling to buy the bare necessities, the economy will not turn around in time for The Worst President Ever to tout his “economic recovery” next year. And the unemployment rate will not improve if stores and businesses are as empty as they are now.
Because "the One" decreed that we have to give health insurance to all employees - who cares if you don't have customers, sales, profit...just do what you are told...sickening
Remember when the price of gas was over $4 a gallon in 2008 and that was after Pelosi became Majority leader in 2007 and after complained about the $2.63 price per gal. Also remember when President Bush on July 14, 2008 lifted the ban on the Outer Continental Shelf Exploration the price of gas fell down below $1.60 per gal or lower?
My work is down as the result of many of my clients trying to reduce their expenses. As such, I’m not about to take on any debt.
The high cost of gasoline, caused by Obama’s ban on domestic oil drilling, will keep customers out of the stores. High energy costs also drive up the cost of groceries, another nail in the coffin of this dead economy.
With people struggling to buy the bare necessities, the economy will not turn around in time for The Worst President Ever to tout his “economic recovery” next year. And the unemployment rate will not improve if stores and businesses are as empty as they are now.
This is another one of those non-govt lightly varnished indicators I like to follow. Small business is scared and that’s not likely to change for awhile.
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