Tag: Jobs

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The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship


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The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship

Tim Kane / September 07, 2014

Start-up companies are the reason America’s economy is more innovative, prosperous and dynamic than the economies of other industrialized countries around the world.

New companies create roughly 3 million jobs every year, while existing companies tend to shed 1 million jobs. It is no secret why a healthy entrepreneurial culture is important.

Think of it this way: Roughly 1 in 10 U.S. companies are founded each year, and these young firms create 100 percent of all net new jobs. Even in gross terms, start-ups punch above their weight, with 16 percent of all new jobs created by start-ups. Older firms create fewer jobs per firm, but, on average, cut even more, for a net negative impact.

While start-ups have always played an important role in the U.S. economy, the extent to which they drive job creation was, until recently, under appreciated.

However, thanks to new data from the federal government, we are able to identify job creation across all firms according to their date of “birth.” Yet, as important as this insight is, the data, which only goes back as far as 1977, also shows an alarming downward trend: America’s entrepreneurship rate is declining.

START-UP JOBS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYMENT

During the Carter administration, 14 percent of U.S. companies were start-ups.

That rate declined by one percentage point during the Reagan years, two points during the recession of the George H.W. Bush presidency, held steady under Bill Clinton, dropped a percentage point under George W. Bush, and then dropped two full points during the first term of President Obama.

We can only speculate why entrepreneurship is declining, but it seems that America’s economic culture is trending toward the European model.

In Europe, as well as Japan, large corporations are the norm, as are ample welfare programs and an erosion of familial bonds.

America’s history of entrepreneurship is strongly rooted in a culture of hard work and self-reliance. Unfortunately, bureaucratic regulations are growing at the same time start-ups are declining. Coincidence?

https://dailysignal.com/2014/09/07/slow-decline-american-entrepreneurship/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

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Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Matches 36-Year Low

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Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Matches 36-Year Low

September 5, 2014 – 9:07 AM
By Ali Meyer

(CNSNews.com) – A record 92,269,000 Americans 16 and older did not participate in the labor force in August, as the labor force participation rate matched a 36-year low of 62.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The labor force participation rate has been as low as 62.8 percent in six of the last twelve months, but prior to last October had not fallen that low since 1978.

BLS employment statistics are based on the civilian noninstitutional population, which consists of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution such as a prison, mental hospital or nursing home.

In August, the civilian noninstitutional population was 248,229,000 according to BLS. Of that 248,229,000, 155,959,000—or 62.8 percent–participated in the labor force, meaning they either had or job or had actively sought one in the last four weeks.

https://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/record-92269000-not-labor-force-participation-rate-matches-36-year-low?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Marketing&utm_term=Facebook&utm_content=Facebook&utm_campaign=N-Record-NotInWorkplace

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Youth Unemployment at 15% in August

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Youth Unemployment at 15% in August

Washington, DC – (9/5/14) – Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for August 2014. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:

The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 15 percent (NSA). The (U-3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 10.1 percent (NSA).

The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.946 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.

The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 22.4 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 19.6 percent (NSA).

The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 15.8 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 10.6 percent (NSA).

The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women is 12.8 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 9.9 percent (NSA).

Patrice Lee, Director of Outreach at Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:

“15% of young people are still out of work and it’s no secret why- government is too big, spending levels are too high, and opportunities for us are limited.

“As we continue to work hard to create opportunities, politicians in Washington continue to impose policies that harm us.

“More than ever, we need to work to elect officials that will fight for the interests of my generation and not continue the policies of generational theft that have prevailed under the current administration.”

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School Crossing Guard Positions Available – Contact Ridgewood Police Dept.

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School Crossing Guard Positions Available – Contact Ridgewood Police Dept.

The Ridgewood Police Department is accepting applications for School Crossing Guard Positions. Applications are Available at the Police Desk located at 131 North Maple Avenue Ridgewood NJ. P/T position, 10 hours per week (2 hours per day) starting at $17.49/hr. Send application to Police Chief John Ward, Ridgewood Police Dept, 131 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450 or return the application to the Police Records Room. The Village of Ridgewood is an EOE and civil service community. 201/652-3900

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The new face of retirement: Many Americans find second career after calling the first one quits

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The new face of retirement: Many Americans find second career after calling the first one quits

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014, 7:11 AM
BY JONNELLE MARTE
BLOOMBERG NEWS
THE RECORD

MIAMI — For Richard Tiberius, retirement didn’t arrive from one day to the next.

As it does for many Americans today, the milestone came in phases. The first phase began two years ago when he went part time in his role as the director of the educational development office for the medical school at the University of Miami and his $120,000 salary dropped to about $70,000. He was hoping to free up more time to paint, a second career of sorts that had been boxed into nights and weekends.

Tiberius, now 73, figured that with his wife’s income, his Social Security benefits and the pension from his time as a researcher in Toronto, he could afford to spend more time in the studio at his Coconut Grove home. But he wasn’t ready to quit the university.

“When you’re cultivating something, growing something — whether it’s a business, painting or academic work — it’s hard to leave it,” Tiberius said.

Roughly half — 47 percent — of retirees say they are working or plan to work during retirement, according to a study released earlier this year by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, a research firm. And the motivation isn’t always financial: As advances in health care make it possible for people to live longer — and healthier — lives, the idea of a part-time or flexible job appeals to people looking to keep busy. It’s an added bonus if the job pays enough to keep them from tapping into their savings.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/personal-finance/the-new-face-of-retirement-1.1079192#sthash.4QfURtln.dpuf

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‘US manufacturing has been lost. Now it’s happening to TV’

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‘US manufacturing has been lost. Now it’s happening to TV’

From Game of Thrones to Modern Family, more US TV series are being filmed outside America than ever before, says John Hiscock

Hollywood’s big-budget blockbuster movies have often been filmed overseas, particularly in England because of the tax incentives offered. Now television is following suit and more US series than ever before are filming outside North America. Why?

US TV networks are increasingly drawn by accommodating tax breaks, the easy availability of professional crews and the novelty of fresh scenery and different landscapes. This combination has greatly increased the attraction of shooting their shows overseas.

Smaller nations such as Sri Lanka have begun offering tax incentives, and others such as New Zealand have improved their own production infrastructures to make them state-of-the-art. Iceland recently lured the HBO series Game of Thrones as well as the feature films Noah and Prometheus.

In Japan, government and film industry officials are considering an incentive programme that would bring them in line with the more than 30 foreign countries trying to lure US TV series.

Even shows which are specifically set in California, such as the Fox TV series Alcatraz, have gone abroad. Alcatraz, whose story begins in the infamous prison in the San Franciso Bay, is in fact filmed in Vancouver, where now-cancelled series such as The X-Files were filmed in the past.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11056398/US-manufacturing-has-been-lost.-Now-its-happening-to-TV.html

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Economy no savior for Dems

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Economy no savior for Dems

Democrats are running out of time for an economic savior.

They have long predicted that an economic turnaround would be the elixir that helps them retain control of the Senate in November.

But with just a handful of big economic reports left before Election Day, the economic picture is largely in place. And while the outlook is bright, voters continue to hold a dim view of their own financial prospects.

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“There are still a lot of families playing catch-up,” said Jared Bernstein at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. “It’s got to be awfully hard for the typical voter to figure out what Congress had done to help the economy move forward. It’s a lot easier to figure out what they’ve done to screw things up.”

Broadly speaking, the economy has made gains in the last several months. The unemployment rate has held steady or dropped every month for over a year, and new data shows the economy grew this spring at its fastest rate in more than 12 months.

But the good news isn’t resonating with the public.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released earlier this month found 71 percent of people blamed Washington for the economy’s woes, and dissatisfaction mainly fell on incumbents overall, rather than on a particular party.

That poll found roughly half of voters believe the economy is still in a recession, even though the economic decline ended in June 2009.

Similarly, Gallup’s index of economic confidence has remained unchanged for all of 2014. People are actually less confident about the economy now than they were in January, when the unemployment rate was nearly half a percentage point higher.

With just two months to go before the midterm elections, there are just a handful of major economic indicators due before ballots are cast, including a pair of jobs reports.

With so little time left, it appears increasingly unlikely that views will change enough to boost the chances of Democrats, who are trying to escape the gravity of President Obama’s flagging poll numbers.

Some researchers argue the economic recovery has not been felt widely, with the majority of the gains going to people on the top of the income scale.

Read more: https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/216287-economy-no-savior-for-dems#ixzz3C5WJ63Vb

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Companies find other ways to move offshore and avoid U.S. taxes

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Companies find other ways to move offshore and avoid U.S. taxes

AUGUST 31, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY ZACHARY R. MIDER
BLOOMBERG NEWS
THE RECORD

* Some firms have left the U.S. system not through inversions but through buyouts by investment funds

NEW YORK — There’s more than one way for a U.S. company to avoid taxes by claiming a foreign address.

Consider the business founded in 1916 as General Plate Co., a maker of sensors and controls for everything from Fords and Frigidaires to the spaceship that first carried Americans to the moon. While its top executives are still based in Attleboro, Mass., it’s now known as Sensata Technologies Holding NV of the Netherlands.

Sensata didn’t become Dutch by using the strategy known as “inversion” that has alarmed President Obama and that the U.S. Treasury Department and some Democrats in Congress are trying to curb. That technique, which involves reincorporating overseas without a change in majority ownership, has helped more than 40 U.S. companies lower their tax bills.

Instead, Sensata is one of at least 13 firms that have left the U.S. tax system through a sale to an investment fund, according to a tally by Bloomberg News. Although these companies have a combined market value of about $75 billion, this tax-avoidance strategy has gotten less attention in Washington than inversions and may be harder to discourage.

These buyouts mean profits for the U.S. private equity firms like Boston-based Bain Capital that orchestrated them. Bain earned more than $3 billion after it took Sensata public as a Dutch company in 2010, with an effective tax rate about one-tenth of some competing manufacturers.

Shifting to a foreign tax domicile “is looked at hard in every private equity deal,” said Joan Arnold, a tax partner at Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia. “They will be interested in what they can do to minimize taxes and maximize sale price.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tax-avoiders-get-creative-1.1078561#sthash.j4QYTjZn.dpuf

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Labor Day exhausted: 40-hour work week grows to 47-60 hours

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Labor Day exhausted: 40-hour work week grows to 47-60 hours

BY PAUL BEDARD | AUGUST 29, 2014 | 12:04 PM
TOPICS: WASHINGTON SECRETS JOBS LABOR WORK REQUIREMENTS

The old “9 to 5” work week is becoming about as obsolete as the American Dream.

A new Gallup poll finds that economically-stressed Americans are now working an “average” of 47 hours, with a growing number clocking 60 hours or more.

“Adults employed full time in the U.S. report working an average of 47 hours per week, almost a full workday longer than what a standard five-day, 9-to-5 schedule entails. In fact, half of all full-time workers indicate they typically work more than 40 hours, and nearly four in 10 say they work at least 50 hours,” said Gallup, based on their 2014 Work and Education survey.

Full time workers:

— Less than 40 hours per week, 8 percent.

— 40 hours, 42 percent.

— 41-49 hours, 11 percent.

— 50-59 hours, 21 percent.

— 60 hours or more, 18 percent.

Gallup said that salaried workers are putting in more hours, on average five hours more per week, 49 vs. 44 for hourly workers.

https://washingtonexaminer.com/american-dream-turned-nightmare-40-hour-work-week-grows-to-47-60-hours/article/2552623

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Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich

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Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich
in Investing by Holly Johnson

I was born in 1980, and I still remember the days when “bringing in six figures” was a sign of extreme wealth and success. It was more than enough to buy the perfect house with a white picket fence, after all, and achieving that sort of income implied a certain level of status that nearly everyone aspired to. You could even say that a six-figure salary was seen as the real “American dream,” simply because earning that much money meant that you had “made it,” at least in financial terms. As a child, I distinctly remember dreaming of a six-figure income myself, and fantasizing about all of the amazing things I could do with so much money.

Times have changed since then, but the public’s perception of a six-figure salary hasn’t necessarily changed with it. With the median household income stuck at around $53,093 in 2014, an annual salary of nearly twice that still seems like more than enough money to succeed and thrive in any economy, no matter the circumstances. However, a convergence of factors have fundamentally changed what it means to rake in a “six-figure salary” in America, and many families who look rich on paper are merely struggling to get ahead along with everyone else.

Why Six Figures Isn’t What it Used to Be

Earning a six-figure salary is still a sign of status and success, but it no longer guarantees a lifetime of wealth like it once did, especially in certain parts of the country. A recent analysis by USA Today goes even further to say that the average price of living the American dream has now risen to $130,000 per year due the rising costs of nearly everything. The authors of the study claim that the American dream is about “finding and pursuing a rewarding career, leading a healthy and personally fulfilling life, and being able to retire in comfort,” adding that only 1 in 8 households in the U.S. currently earn enough to achieve those goals. But, what exactly has changed?

https://blog.personalcapital.com/investing/six-figure-salary/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Twitter-blogpost&utm_content=WhyASixFigureSalaryNoLongerMeansYoureRich

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A Lesson in Economic Analysis from the Minimum Wage Debate

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A Lesson in Economic Analysis from the Minimum Wage Debate
Mises Daily: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 by Ken Zahringer

In the ebb and flow of interventionist politics, there are some issues that surface periodically regardless of how many times and how completely they are proven to be harmful to the very people they are purported to help. Currently the tide is once again carrying the minimum wage to the forefront of collective attention. Supporters of this and similar measures often use straw-man arguments, like the one in the picture below.

I discovered this ad through one of my friends who shared it on Facebook. It was originally posted on July 12, 2014 on the website of OurTime.org. I propose to deconstruct this pseudo-argument here, pointing out its major errors. I do this not to convince hard-core supporters of raising the minimum wage that it is a bad idea; I doubt that is possible by any means. Rather, this can be a short lesson for those interested in sound economic analysis in how to proceed when confronted by opposing arguments buttressed by seemingly sound statistics.

The Ceteris Paribus Principle

The statement in the box is worded rather ambiguously, which is typical for this type of argument. It can be interpreted two different ways. On the one hand, it could be claiming that the minimum wage hike caused the increase in employment. This is a clear violation of ceteris paribus (i.e., all other things being equal or held constant), which is at the core of any good analysis and cannot be stressed often enough. In order for that interpretation to be valid, we must assume that all states are identical in all other respects and that the increase in the minimum wage was the only economic condition that changed. This is clearly not the case. States use a variety of policy initiatives to encourage job growth; focusing on this one factor ignores significant heterogeneity among states.

In its weaker form, the statement could merely be claiming that jobs were created in spite of the increase. This is obvious and trivial. In order for this interpretation to be meaningful we must assume that the minimum wage is the biggest kid on the block, the overriding factor that swamps all others. It’s all or nothing; either it kills all job growth or it’s not a factor. This is what makes the argument a straw man. It is overly simplified and no one who opposes the minimum wage takes the position it attempts to refute. The minimum wage is simply one factor among many affecting the job market; real-world outcomes are a result of a constellation of factors, each playing its part. But this is not the only thing wrong with this version of the argument — it gets better (or worse).

https://mises.org/daily/6854/A-Lesson-in-Economic-Analysis-from-the-Minimum-Wage-Debate

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Obama’s Attention to Border Crisis Outrages African-Americans

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Obama’s Attention to Border Crisis Outrages African-Americans
Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 03:10 PM
By Todd Beamon

President Barack Obama’s attention to the illegal immigration crisis, which could lead him to issue executive orders early next week to delay deportations and grant work permits to as many as 6 million migrants, has soured many of his core voters: African-Americans.

Many blacks, who twice voted for Obama in record numbers to elect him — and keep him — as the nation’s first African-American president, are angry that he has neglected the problems facing inner cities while working on the border crisis. 

These big-city ills include chronic black unemployment, poor housing conditions, steep prices for food and services, low high-school graduation rates, and high crime rates.

“Black people are being played,” Herman Cain, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, told Newsmax. “They have been taken for granted by Democrats for decades. Now they’ve reached a boiling point with this whole crisis on the border, and some of them are speaking out.”

By all accounts and as reported by Brietbart.com, the number of Border Patrol arrests of illegal immigrants since Oct. 1 stands at 174,000 and is still rising.

Cain and other African-American conservatives charge that Obama “manufactured this crisis” through a 2012 executive order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The DACA ended the threat of deportation for as many as 670,000 illegals between the ages of 15 and 31 who were brought to the U.S. before their 16th birthday. In June, the administration extended the program for two more years.

“We’ve got a real crisis in every major inner city in this country,” Cain said. “They’ve done exactly nothing to understand the problem, let alone do anything about it.”

Anita MonCrief, board member of the Black Conservatives Fund, told Newsmax that African-Americans have long been “sour on Obama.”

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com https://www.newsmax.com/Draft-Stories/Obama-blacks-illegals-jobs/2014/08/17/id/589249/#ixzz3ApR6tGam 

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Don’t blame the business people

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parasites and political clowns in Washington, Trenton

Don’t blame the business people

AUGUST 17, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014, 12:16 AM
SUBURBAN TRENDS
Print

Don’t blame the business people

Dear Editor:

A recent letter to the Suburban Trends expressed outrage that some business groups take their holdings offshore to avoid U.S. taxes.

The writer shows a complete ignorance of economics and a hostility to private business.

Business and industry flee America because of the anti-free market environment they have to deal with thanks to the politicians and unelected bureaucrats. No business leader in their right mind would want to set up shop where they will be penalized for being productive.

How many Americans know that the income tax, which we’ve been saddled with since 1913, has its origins in Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” of 1848? “Comrade Karl” thought the income tax so important that it’s the number-two item (next to the abolition of private property) in his plan for a socialized all powerful centralized state!

Add in all the other unconstitutional agencies and bureaus like the EPA, FDA, BATF, and many, many more, and it isn’t hard to see why business leaves the United States.

It’s not just the bloated federal government that is to blame. We have tons of state, county, and local laws, taxes, and regulations across the land that stifle business. These petty local tyrants make life miserable for anyone trying to succeed in business development.

My father, retired construction official Gene Richards of West Milford, is a case in point, In 1998 he came out of retirement to serve on West Milford’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. It didn’t last long as he was thrown off for stating that zoning was a form of property rights violation by government. I don’t want to sound paranoid but I honestly think my pro-freedom libertarian activism over the years may have had something to do with it too. Nobody likes independent thinkers who see beyond the phony “Liberal” versus “Conservative” debates on various issues.

If you wish to bemoan America’s slow economic growth and decline, don’t blame business people. Rather focus on the parasites and political clowns in Washington, Trenton, and your local community who always want more “controls” on virtually everything. They are truly a menace! Vote them out ASAP!

Mark Richards,

West Milford

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/don-t-blame-the-business-people-1.1068870 

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Ferguson Unrest Shows Poverty Grows Fastest in Suburbs

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Ferguson Unrest Shows Poverty Grows Fastest in Suburbs

By Toluse Olorunnipa and Elizabeth Campbell  Aug 16, 2014 12:01 AM ET

A week of violence and protests in a town outside St. Louis is highlighting how poverty is growing most quickly on the outskirts of America’s cities, as suburbs have become home to a majority of the nation’s poor.

In Ferguson, Missouri, a community of 21,000 where the poverty rate doubled since 2000, the dynamic has bred animosity over racial segregation and economic inequality. Protests over the police killing of an unarmed black teenager on Aug. 9 have drawn international attention to the St. Louis suburb’s growing underclass.

Such challenges aren’t unique to Ferguson, according to a Brookings Institution report July 31 that found the poor population growing twice as fast in U.S. suburbs as in city centers. From Miami to Denver, resurgent downtowns have blossomed even as their recession-weary outskirts struggle with soaring poverty in what amounts to a paradigm shift.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-16/ferguson-unrest-shows-poverty-grows-fastest-in-suburbs.html

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Report: Many Americans’ Paychecks Have Shrunk Since Recession

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Report: Many Americans’ Paychecks Have Shrunk Since Recession

Philip Wegmann / @PhilipWegmann / August 12, 2014

Today many Americans are taking home a smaller paycheck than they used to, according to a study released Monday by the United States Conference of Mayors.

According to the report, people who worked in job sectors particularly hard hit by the recession had an average salary of $61,637 before the recession. But when it comes to jobs gained after the downturn, the average wage was $47,171 dollars.

“The wage gap has nearly doubled from one recession to the next.” – United States Conference of Mayors.

Conditions have become worse since the last recession, when the internet bubble burst. At that time, the Conference of Mayors measured the wage gap at 12 percent, about half of today’s 23 percent.

“While the economy is picking up steam,” said Conference president and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, “wage gaps are an alarming trend that must be addressed.”

https://dailysignal.com/2014/08/12/report-many-americans-paychecks-shrunk-since-recession/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social