Ace of Spades HQ

June 02, 2010

Robert Reich deflates enthusiasm for the "startup boom"
— Purple Avenger

About 95% of what Reich has written here is dead on accurate analysis of the workforce transformation phenomenon happening out in the street today. He only drifts off into mush brained liberalism in the last few paragraphs of the piece.

...Another surprise is the age of these new entrepreneurs. According to the report, most of the growth in startups was propelled by 35- to 44-year-olds, followed by people 55 to 64. Forget Internet whiz kids in their 20Â’s. ItÂ’s the gray-heads who are taking the reins of the new startup economy. And if you thought minorities had been hit particularly hard by this awful recession, think again. According to the report, entrepreneurship increased more among African-Americans than among whites.
At first glance, all this seems a bit odd. Usually new businesses take off in good times when consumers are flush and banks are eager to lend. So why all this entrepreneurship last year?
In a word, unemployment. Booted off company payrolls, millions of Americans had no choice but to try selling themselves. Another term for Â“entrepreneurÂ” is Â“self-employed.Â” ...

The whole thing is worth reading. His dissection of the phenomenon is correct, even if some of his prescriptions in the last few paragraphs are not.

Reich is a sharp guy for a liberal. I've always had a modest measure of respect for him precisely because he wasn't PelosiGrade™ stupid.

DESPERATION IS THE NEW HOPE

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:51 AM | Comments (44)
Post contains 248 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Don't worry. President "It's All About Me" will step in and try to fix it again then we'll be screwed. Again.

Posted by: katya, the designated driver at June 02, 2010 04:57 AM (zQcbU)

2 people in their early 40s are now considered "greyheads" ?

Posted by: Georgie at June 02, 2010 04:57 AM (I+7Zv)

3 people in their early 40s are now considered "greyheads" ?

Always have been. This "life begins at 40" lie is pure baby boomer self-delusion.

Posted by: NerdRadish at June 02, 2010 04:59 AM (mR7mk)

4 "... most of the growth in startups was propelled by 35- to 44-year-olds, followed by people 55 to 64."

And I'm willing to wager that the "55 to 64" group is more heavily weighted towards the 55 end. In other words people who are all too young to have been part of the "Woodstock Generation"- a group that can't die off fast enough.

Posted by: Nighthawk at June 02, 2010 05:00 AM (OtQXp)

5 Let's not get all teary eyed here. Only a liberal can go to school for years to learn about economics and then figure out a way to skew it to socialism and communism.

IOW, fk Robert "3rd" Reich.

Posted by: Vic at June 02, 2010 05:00 AM (6taRI)

6 Reich is smart. But he is not streetsmart. Actually kind of stupid. His last piece recommended taxes go up from 15% to 40% on carried interest. DUMB. People have a misconception of start ups. At www.hydeparkangels.com, we fund all kinds. The entrepreneurs I personally feel safest with are over the age of 35; they have some gray on them and have been through a few wars. Interestingly, every piece of legislation Obama has pushed kills entrepreneurs.

Posted by: Jeff Carter at June 02, 2010 05:02 AM (b5LmL)

7 Oh, and IMHO Reich really is stupid- and living proof that even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.

Posted by: Nighthawk at June 02, 2010 05:03 AM (OtQXp)

8 I think the Purple Avenger gives Reich way too much credit. Reich is a sociology guy-not an economist. Very detrimental as Secy of Labor, and he doesn't really have any ground breaking free market ideas. Stone Age thinker.

Posted by: Jeff Carter at June 02, 2010 05:03 AM (b5LmL)

9 No, thanks. I'll pass on Reich. Can't stand the bastard.

Posted by: maddogg at June 02, 2010 05:06 AM (OlN4e)

Your feelgood video of the day

Fuckin'-A...that's how it's done

Posted by: beedubya at June 02, 2010 05:08 AM (AnTyA)

11 I personally feel safest with are over the age of 35; they have some gray on them and have been through a few wars.

The older ones are smart enough to know they can't waste money on flashy bling like new trucks.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at June 02, 2010 05:08 AM (CEKC0)

12 "12 Charts That Show The REAL State Of Unemployment In America"

Posted by: curious at June 02, 2010 05:09 AM (p302b)

13 Self employed? Is that where you have to actually produce something that your fellow man wants to buy? How archaic. The good action is in filling those swivel chairs in those office cubicles, baby. Oh, yeah. That thing where you get paid to do the least possible without getting fired. Put in your 20 and get a phat pension for life. Let those in the first sentence pay for it. The real action is in getting your name on a door and get paid for that. Even better if no one can even figure out what the hell it is you get paid for. If you work it just so, they'll even prefer it if you don't even show up.

Posted by: rawmuse at June 02, 2010 05:10 AM (8qfTx)

14 As for Reich, he is smart, yes. The same way Colin Powell and Chris Buckley are real smart.

Posted by: rawmuse at June 02, 2010 05:12 AM (8qfTx)

The good action is in filling those swivel chairs in those office cubicles, baby. Oh, yeah. That thing where you get paid to do the least possible without getting fired. Put in your 20 and get a phat pension for life. Let those in the first sentence pay for it.

The real action is in getting your name on a door and get paid for that. Even better if no one can even figure out what the hell it is you get paid for. If you work it just so, they'll even prefer it if you don't even show up.

The absolute most cherry gig is to get paid millions to fuck a company up so bad they are practically bankrupt, then get paid millions more to leave. Now that's intelligence.

Posted by: maddogg at June 02, 2010 05:15 AM (OlN4e)

16 BTW, I have been self employed for 32 years. Heavy on the snark, I am.

Posted by: rawmuse at June 02, 2010 05:16 AM (8qfTx)

17 I met a lot of guys like Reich when I was at college (I studied Econ). Guys who were unbelievably sharp in analyzing data, but held on to liberal thinking despite the obvious conclusions of their analysis.

Posted by: Farmer Joe at June 02, 2010 05:20 AM (z4es9)

18 "...because he wasn't PelosiGradeÂ™ stupid."

To be fair, who is? You've set an especially low bar.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at June 02, 2010 05:27 AM (EnE4+)

Reich is the guy using the oil spill to push the "Obama needs to take over the oil companies" mantra.

Please don't make me link to his post on HuffPo to prove it.

Posted by: Average Jen at June 02, 2010 05:28 AM (fRnux)

20 Wow, that wasn't a bad article until the very end. "Earnings insurance????" Sacred fecal matter, what a stupid idea! And on top of that we'll make the federal government an employer for matching 401(k) contributions? Jesus bloody fuck does Reich go off the rails with that idea. On the plus side, at least he didn't postulate an "entrepreneur's union" or something equally baffling.

Posted by: Greg at June 02, 2010 05:31 AM (QkqDN)

21 Speaking of PelosiGradeÂ™ stupid, does this mean starving artists with subsidized Obamacare are the vibrant, new entrepreneurs? Yeah, not sure I'd bank America's rebound on that.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at June 02, 2010 05:31 AM (EnE4+)

22 I don't care if I don't have a job.....I am 24, a single mother, high school drop-out, with 6 kids, and don't know whom the fathers are.......Because I am FUN-EMPLOYED because of President Obama's policies. Life is good because I get to spend more time with my kids, collect food stamps, unemployment, free health care, etc..... When George Bush was President I only had a job that paid $5.95/hour, now with President Obama I make $55K a year without working as hard. Bush and Cheney were stupid and mean just like Barry Obama says.....

Posted by: LaQuisha Largeass from Los Angeles, CA at June 02, 2010 05:37 AM (k7Ddt)

23 Self-employment is great, as long as you have a spouse with a real job to cover the insurance and stuff.

Posted by: jeannie at June 02, 2010 05:39 AM (vcA2I)

Since people on the right are nodding approvingly at Reich, you can be sure the Obama White House will ignore him.

Posted by: Boots at June 02, 2010 05:39 AM (06JTY)

25 Average Jen: "Reich is the guy using the oil spill to push the 'Obama needs to take over the oil companies' mantra."

Clear evidence of an education beyond his IQ. I imagine the beltway is so weighted with this phenomenon that it's in danger of going sinkhole.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at June 02, 2010 05:40 AM (EnE4+)

26 I met a lot of guys like Reich when I was at college (I studied Econ). Guys who were unbelievably sharp in analyzing data, but held on to liberal thinking despite the obvious conclusions of their analysis.

I met a lot of folks like this when I was working around gov't soft scientists in the early/mid 90s.

It's easy to understand the sub-par thinkers who conclude that everything is a nail because the constraints imposed by their leftist worldview indoctrination leave them with nothing in their toolbags but hammers (and sickles).

But guys like Reich are frustrating as hell. They perform the logical equivalent of inventing the cambuckle fastener from scratch with perfect illustrations of the why and how down to the metallurgical analysis of key components. Then, come conclusion time, they beat on it with a hammer.

Posted by: MikeO at June 02, 2010 05:42 AM (lBmZl)

27 Well, duhhhh! Thanks for the bulletin, Capt. Obvious. Most of the workers being laid off are older. Our general population is growing older. So the fact that more older people are starting businesses is surprising why, exactly?

Posted by: JEA at June 02, 2010 05:42 AM (QDdeR)

So why all this entrepreneurship last year?

People have seen which way the government is heading and they want to be as removed from its reach as possible.

Posted by: Decaf at June 02, 2010 05:42 AM (NooBZ)

Watched some network news over the weekend, one story about the older unemployed caught my eye. It basically came to the same conclusion, that there aren't any jobs for those too old to be young but too young to die.

The most successful of these outplaced older workers had started her own dog-walking business. She charges $15/per half hour to take your dog for a walk if you are lucky enough to have a job & can pay her.

Posted by: Boots at June 02, 2010 05:47 AM (06JTY)

30 Since people on the right are nodding approvingly at Reich

Approvingly is probably too strong a word in this situation.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at June 02, 2010 05:50 AM (CEKC0)

31 PA should have warned me that was a NYT link.

Fuck that midget, Robert Reich.
He's a stopped clock.
But it's a digital clock.

Posted by: Nom de Blog at June 02, 2010 05:50 AM (rUKTY)

32 Any pet related business is worthy of consideration. Americans love their pets and spend money on them, billions annually. I know teenagers with more tattoos than a convict and metal hanging out of every skin flap that make pretty good scratch walking dogs.

Posted by: rawmuse at June 02, 2010 05:52 AM (8qfTx)

33 In a word, unemployment....I've always had a modest measure of respect for him precisely because he wasn't PelosiGradeÂ™ stupid.

all of this fits in well with a concept that some people have been putting about lately: while Obama is without question the worst president America has ever seen, the unintended outcomes of his tenure could, in fact, be quite positive, by virtue of the massive weight of the statism he insists on imposing and the economic ruin he's bringing about. Think about it--when was America last united enough to create a Tea Party movement that encompasses Republicans, Democrats, whites, blacks, hispanics and Asians? When was the last time that Americans were so unanimously opposed to being ruled by the political elite? Heck, the firearms industry has received an incredible revenue boost since it became clear that the Indonesian Imbecile (thanks to the commenter who came up with that one) came to power. People are now apparently returning to entrepreneurship as a way of escaping the crushing unemployment he's wreaked on America. Kevin Costner will get the opportunity to launch his centrifuge machine to deal with the oil spill. And the way things are going, conservatives (not Republicans but CONSERVATIVES--RINOs are becoming too afraid to even show their true colors) will sweep the house and senate and regain the power that will put America and the world back on track for another generation at least. If Obama continues his presidency in the manner he's conducted it until now these things will be virtually guaranteed.

Posted by: mandible claw at June 02, 2010 06:03 AM (xUpak)

34 So the fact that more older people are starting businesses is surprising why, exactly?

I hear that a lot of them are becoming pirates.

Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at June 02, 2010 06:36 AM (2PTT7)

35 Yup, 35-44 screams "Gen X." The millennials are useless, and so are the Boomers. It's up to us.

Posted by: Phelps at June 02, 2010 06:41 AM (QhXW0)

36 Stuck digital clock...you're saying Robert Reich is a flasher? I think his first role was in Don't Look Now.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at June 02, 2010 06:43 AM (8lCJT)

Robert Reich is a person on the left with principles with whom an honest dialogue seems possible.

Plus, he was hilarious in his gig as the spokesgnome for Travelocity.

Posted by: Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate at June 02, 2010 06:47 AM (Hj9yW)

38 That arrogant, smug and glib, malignant dwarf, Robert Reich, has always gotten on my nerves.

Posted by: Just a thought, or two at June 02, 2010 06:48 AM (sYrWB)

39 Another term for Â“entrepreneurÂ” is Â“self-employed.Â” Actually the correct term is "involuntarily self-employed."

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at June 02, 2010 07:24 AM (R7LgM)

40 I think we should put The Purple Avenger into receivership! Until he gets his brains back.

Posted by: Robert Reich (aka Mini Me) at June 02, 2010 07:56 AM (hjyb5)

41 IP = 116.21.4.24

Posted by: spammer at June 02, 2010 08:11 AM (G5QYl)

42 Robert Reich is a malignant troll, and should be back at the mortuary stealing corpses to send as squished slaves to another dimension.

Posted by: damian at June 02, 2010 11:38 AM (4WbTI)

Entrepreneurship increased more among African Americans...Great analysis!And, how many decades now have we had a certain entitled class who get special incenitives from HUD, SBA, and Federal, State, and Local contracting??? Not to mention Federal grant money...Go to hell Reich...I swear what passes for intelligentsia in America today is as useless as tits on a bull! Soft hands lead to a soft head...Happens every fucking time.

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