Reno Hayek Symposium

Michael Fleischer posted a hard hitting op-ed in today’s WSJ, “Why I’m Not Hiring.” In it he tells about a valued, long term, mid-level employee at his audio systems company in New Jersey. He details the pay and benefits and discusses the taxes, insurance and fees involved in her compensation. “When you add it all up, it const $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally’s pocket and give her $12,000 in benefits.”

But that’s only part of the story. Hussein Obama’s statism has businesses guessing, wondering when the next shoe will drop in terms of tax, regulation or restriction. The uncertainty principal is paramount in business today. Why should I invest, why should I hire, when I don’t know what these tzars will do next? Obamacare is omnipresent, yet unknown in scope and effect. Financial re-regulation is all encompassing, yet unknown in scope and effect. Cap and Trade is a dormant threat of gigantic proportions. Obama and his Reid-Pelosi comrades have set up bureaucratic rule-making to an extent not seen in modern memory. Using the Tom Cargill analogy, when the chess umpire announces in the middle of the match that the rules are being reconsidered and that an announcement will be made in the near future, what is going to happen to the match? Will the contestants continue to play?

Likewise in business, whether the company is a rent seeker like GE or a small business like Michael Fleischer playing by the rules, growth stops, risks are avoided, in short, the game stops. No investment. No hiring. No growth!

I met this afternoon with the owner of a multinational small business who handles major relocations; his business is a barometer of future business activity. He has reduced staff significantly and has no incentive to ramp back up. Just a reaffirmation of Michael Fleischer’s “Why I’m Not Hiring.”

It is imperative that we rid ourselves of this scum come November.