On Dec 15, 2006, at 6:13 PM, MB Software Solutions wrote: > But Chet's point *is* valid---there are more SMBs than big dog > enterprises. SMBs make up most of the economy, iirc.
Sorry for the OT drift, but comments like these are so common that a bit of reality is to the common good. I have been an economic development prefeshonall, so this stuff isn't just off the top of my head: Yes, major corporations don't employ many folks in the greater scheme of things. Also, when one is talking about their own employment, they do not create many *new* jobs, either. Politicians love to blabber that small business is what is important, as they generate 80% of new jobs. True enough, but not the whole story. Major corporations, research universities and manufacturing companies (in the broadest definition, including extraction-based industries) are economic engines. Tourism comes next, and behaves like an extraction-based industry. They drive the economy of a community. A vast proportion of the "virtuous" small businesses serve to feed the beasts as contract manufacturers and service companies. Of these, a large corporate headquarters has by far the greatest short-term economic impact. Research universities, long-term. Retailers, consumer services and non-profits feed off all of them and are on the bottom of the food chain for creating jobs, but they are the most vulnerable and therefore a good economic indicator. Also, most of the next generation of major corporations spin off from the older "majors," so a healthy large business community is the best single indicator of a community's future economic health. So a large corporate HQ doesn't create many of it's own jobs, but it has a vastly disproportionate impact on a community's and therefore a country's economy. (I'll save Chet the trouble: "Big corporations are evil." Happy?) Ken _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
