The evolution from capitalism to cronyism bears some distinct markers. Perhaps chief amongst them is the ever-increasing domination of…everything by the biggest of Big Businesses.
In the Cronyism Economy small businesses shrivel up and die. Because they aren’t large enough to pay Big Government for the cronyism Big Businesses purchase with ease.
The small biz carcasses pile up. And they - and their marketshares - are then bought on the cheap by the Big Businesses.
Making the Big Bizs even bigger. And even more able to purchase even more cronyism. Which does even more damage to small businesses…. Lather, rinse, repeat….
We’ve for decades been told small businesses are vital to our economy. Mostly because they are. But Big Biz seems to have paid EVERYONE off - to successfully memory hole this vital truth.
When small businesses are facing this sort of crushing downward pressure? One thing they definitely aren’t doing is hiring people. Because they are too busy trying to stay alive. Which also means things ain’t great for their existing employees.
Well, welcome to the modern US economy for small businesses.
Fewer Small Firms Report Job Openings: “The latest NFIB survey also finds fewer employers handing out raises.”
“NFIB” stands for the National Federation of Independent Business. I.e small businesses. The likes of Amazon and Apple ain’t members.
April was a really good jobs market. Just not for small biz. How was March?
Job Openings Fall to 6-Month Low in March
US Small Businesses Cut Jobs in February
I’m noticing a trend. January?
Jobs Report Shows a Hiring Slowdown as Companies Are Acting Like ‘They’re in a Recession’
Was 2024 any better for small business? Heavens no…..
Private Sector Job Growth Slows in December
Small Business Hiring Continues to Trend Downward in November
October offered a brief respite….
Small Business Employment Holds Steady
But it was only a brief respite. Here’s September….
Small Business Job Openings Drop to Lowest Level Since 2021
President Donald Trump didn’t just inherit a bad economy from Joe Biden. He inherited an ongoing, rolling bad small business economy from (at least) Richard Nixon - and his initial outsourcing capitulations to Communist China and the rest of the planet.
As noted, there have been some good recent jobs reports. They just haven’t been good for small businesses. Big Businesses have been doing just fine….
These Fortune 1000 Companies Are Hiring Now: “Working for a large, well-known company has many advantages - especially now….(B)ig companies (are) hiring in a wide variety of roles and in many locations….”
Big Tech is hiring like crazy. So too are the Big Banks….
That article is discussing the likes of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Barclays hiring. Not the local bank your neighbor owns. Except your neighbor may not own his neighborhood bank for very much longer….
When Community Banks Die: How Small Businesses Are Affected: “Community banks are going away: They’re consolidating, being purchased by big banks and closing.
“As the community banking market erodes, small businesses are being squeezed….(because they) can’t meet conventional lending requirements from big institutions….”
Get all that? It isn’t just the death of small banks. Their deaths lead to the deaths of surrounding small businesses. Because the small banks will lend them money - and the Big Banks won’t…:
“Community banks provide 77% of agricultural loans and over 50% of small business loans….What community banks offer small businesses in the lending process is almost intangible – because banks know the community, they’re able to provide loans to businesses based on information that isn’t just found in a business’s finances.”
Because who needs agriculture? I mean, we don’t need to eat or anything.
Big Banks are more and more using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make their loan determinations. Which is about as human-free an experience as there currently is in our economy. And without the humans - you lose the humane.
The great flick “The Big Short” was a look at the 2008 global economic crisis - caused in large part by the Big Banks. In which Brad Pitt’s character said: “You know what I hate about <expletive> banking? It reduces people to numbers.”
Well, Big Banks and their AI-driven, human-free robo-lending certainly reduces people to numbers.
Small banks don’t do business that way. But more and more, small banks don’t do business at all. They’re being murdered by Big Banks and their Big Government cronyism.
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