He is a billionaire. He is responsible for starting, or contributing to getting many corporations off the ground. If anyone knows about job creation and who creates them, it’s him. His name is Nick Hanauer, and it is his belief that tax cuts to the rich does not create jobs. And I agree with him 1000%!
I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet media company aQuantive Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2007 for $6.4 billion. I was also the first non-family investor in Amazon.com Inc.
Even so, I’ve never been a “job creator.” I can start a business based on a great idea, and initially hire dozens or hundreds of people. But if no one can afford to buy what I have to sell, my business will soon fail and all those jobs will evaporate.
That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be.
Still, we’ll hear the Republican talking point that the only way to create jobs in America, is for the rich to continue getting tax cuts and subsidies. Since George Bush became president, he went on a tax cutting frenzy for rich people, and during his entire eight years in office, only 1.09 million jobs were created. This, after the rich saw their taxes drastically reduced during the time Bush was in power.
But don’t tell this to Republicans in Congress. Although the facts don’t back up their claims, Republicans will go to their graves demanding more tax cuts for the rich in order to “create jobs.”
8 replies on “Billionaire Says Rich People Are Not “Job Creators””
"Taxes and regulation kill profits." Don't you think that statement is a drastic over simplification? I agree that there's plenty of out-dated regulation and it needs to be weeded through and streamlined, but I can't accept your blanket statement.
Regulation has all kinds of results, but the results are highly variable from situation to situation and also dependent out the outcomes you look at. A given set of regulations or taxes may create incentives for some forms of activity and discourage others.
Take carbon taxes. They're DESIGNED to make the use of fossil fuels more costly to account for the other hidden costs due to pollution, global warming, etc. resulting from over-dependence on relatively cheap fossil fuels. They're also designed to create incentives to invest and develop new carbon neutral and/or renewable energy sources. If carbon taxes are implemented, they'll probably kill some jobs in the short run and create more jobs in the longer term.
It's a question of who "wins" and who "loses". In my mind if we have carbon taxes the people of the future and those involved in new technologies "win" perhaps at some cost to those of us now living fossil fuel-dependent lives and perhaps significant cost to those heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry or fossil fuel-based energy generation.
It's rarely a lose-lose situation. It's a question of WHO wins and who doesn't…
The question is not whether rich people create jobs. Many do. So do middle class people directly through small businesses and indirectly through buying goods and services. The question is at what level of wealth the disincentive of increased taxes offsets the benefits of increased revenue. That is an economic question, not a political one–but most politicians don't see it that way.
so.. if rich peolpe don't create jobs – then who does? do a bunch of middle income people band together to invest – yes they do.. sometimes (tyhey are usually spending all their money on simply living from day to day)… but the rich do create jobs… and they do so in their country…. if they don't – pls tell me who does te jb creation? the government cannot create jobs long term… as not everyone can work in the public service (just look at what happened to the USSR…lol… lots of peolpe employed by the state…. wonderful motivation those people had and are still suffering from it today….)
There's a point here, but think the tax cuts ARE important because the feedback loop he talks about does no good if there's no profit in the transaction. Taxes and regulation kill profits, which make it harder to hire, with or without a customer base.
Jon Cavaluzzo LOL… Grey Poupon. LOL I forgot about that!
Oh yeah? What about all the Grey Poupon openers? Did you think of them?…no, NO YA DIDN'T!
Hey, that's not true. Rich people DO create jobs….overseas. 😛
Another Class Traitor from the 1%!