Smaller Not Better When It Comes to Business

Smaller Not Better When It Comes to Business

Americans display a striking series of bizarre contradictions in our attitudes toward business loving private companies when they’re small and struggling, but then suddenly hating them if they become too large and profitable. When asked about big business, respondents in public opinion surveys react with fear, contempt and resentment, associating the major enterprises that permeate every aspect of our lives with an array of vices and dangers. When it comes to small business, however, we smile with warm approval, identifying these mom-and-pop operations with classic American values of hard work, decency and neighborly concern. In overwhelming numbers, we affirm the ludicrous...