

"When did American business leaders turn into such wusses?" - petethomas
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20101130,0,114761.column

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chrismealy
If your biggest problem is not knowing whether the capital gains tax rate is
going to be 15% or 25% in ten years then you don't have enough competition.

Whining about uncertainty is the signal that capital has run out of things to
complain about.

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gamble
With the Chamber of Commerce's lurch toward operating as an outright wing of
the Republican party this year, I suspect it's only a matter of time before
we'll start to see CoC boycott campaigns.

~~~
brianbreslin
Got a reference for this?

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gamble
I can't reply to your more deeply threaded comment, so I'll reply here. There
has been many stories about the CoC this year; here's an example:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/us/politics/22chamber.html...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/us/politics/22chamber.html?scp=2&sq=chamber%20election&st=cse)

The CoC is the largest lobbying organization in the US and >90% of its
advertising during the 2010 election cycle went to support Republicans or
attack Democrats.

~~~
brianbreslin
That was all I was asking for. Thank you, not sure why my asking this got so
many down votes but I appreciate your response.

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sliverstorm
In situations like that I take an abundance of downvotes to signify an
entrenched outlook, or a widespread belief through the userbase that what you
are questioning is 'common knowledge'. (whether or not it's actually common,
has any proof, or is even true)

~~~
brianbreslin
Well now I know. thanks for the clarification. Something about the Chamber of
Commerce in the US shouldn't be considered common knowledge. Had I asked who
is Steve Jobs, then I'd assume that was common knowledge HERE.

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ryanwaggoner
I know we're not supposed to talk about politics here, but I just have to say
this: regardless of how you feel about their policies, Republicans (and their
allies) are just _masters_ at controlling the public discourse and
manipulating language to serve their goals. It's seriously both disgusting and
fascinating at the same time.

This American Life recently did a segment on it (Act 2):

[http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/417/t...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/417/this-party-sucks)

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brianbreslin
I think "uncertainty" is a simplistic excuse. Really we as business owners may
not need to overstaff, or want to. We may be more efficient from an hr
perspective than we were 10 or 20 years ago.

The interest rate excuse made me think we should guarantee at some level
access to capital to all businesses (at risk relative rates of course).

~~~
lsc
At risk relative rates, you're going to put the government in the position of
payday-loan level lenders.

Personally, I don't think debit is always a good thing. I mean, if I had
access to loans, rather than spending the last five years building up a ramen-
profitable business, the mistakes I made would have put me through bankruptcy
at least twice. Maybe more, if you charged enough to be profitable.

Personally, I think businesses, like individuals, should largely live within
their means.

~~~
brianbreslin
If you NEED capital to buy more supplies or get started or expand, you should
be able to access it through legitimate means (i.e. not loan sharks). Some
businesses REQUIRE capital, just no way around it. Can't build a ramen
profitable hardware company without cash to start.

I agree that people shouldn't over extend. I was just oversimplifying my
argument.

~~~
lsc
At "risk relitive" rates, you are going to be charging some people payday loan
level rates. Most businesses fail.

This, I think, is the problem with the "microfinance" industry. Either you are
losing money on the loans or you are charging rates that make success much
less likely for your customers.

I think that if you could scale-down something like ycombinator to handle
local businesses, that'd work a lot better. that way the person who needed the
capital doesn't end up with crushing debit, and the investor gets a cut only
if the business succeeds.

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hugh3
Is it my imagination, or is this a poor line of argument?

"Uncertainty about future business regulations is causing us to hold off on
major hiring and investment decisions for now."

"Wuss!"

~~~
jbooth
The article was longer than the title, it turns out. I was surprised too.

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joe_the_user
I think uncertainty actually is a big factor but personal tax rates or the
health care reforms are a fairly minor part of this uncertainty.

It is more a matter that the world financial system is serious turmoil. The
value of the dollar, Euro or other currencies could fluctuate quite a bit as
could the economic climate.

