U.S. businesses are being destroyed faster than they’re being created

The American economy is less entrepreneurial now than at any point in the last three decades. That's the conclusion of a new study out from the Brookings Institution, which looks at the rates of new business creation and destruction since 1978.

Not only that, but during the most recent three years of the study -- 2009, 2010 and 2011 -- businesses were collapsing faster than they were being formed, a first. Overall, new businesses creation (measured as the share of all businesses less than one year old) declined by about half from 1978 to 2011.

U.S. businesses are being destroyed faster than they’re being created

Washington Post

I have been saying this for a long time now, but the government data both in the US and north of the border decries otherwise. The economy appears to be collapsing and it's picking up speed. Small businesses are having a harder time getting a foothold, probably because of the way the banks are operating holding usable capital close to their chests instead of promoting economic growth.

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

I know this personally with our small business and the regulations and outright bank illegality that we are enduring.

I am so mad about what is happening to small businesses especially that I am ready to give up...If anyone cares to hear...

Our bank (BOA in this case) has made an effort to destroy our business. A business credit card turned up at our place which we never asked or signed up for. We then had our business accounts frozen for no reason whatsoever, to discover that a payment protection plan was enacted that charged the bills and paychecks to this card (the bank activated the card, we never took them from the letter or activated) . The branch were perplexed as to why the account was frozen and said don't worry we will take care of the charges. Next thing we know we have a collection letter and they take money from our account. We never received any statement or bill for this credit card and my recent conversation from their fraud department they said " you have to pay it your business was given the money, who signed up for the card is a moot point" "We sent you regular statements I can see it on the system" Then they said they would send copies of the statements which I should receive two weeks ago. Never received any copies or any statement or bill for this card, EVER. It has ruined our business ,they were even supposedly looking for security footage of me in the branch asking for this credit card when I demanded them to prove it but I guess they found I wasn't there and they dropped this looking for the footage and proceeded to now cancelling all my personal debit cards and locking me out of buying anything...

I will not open another business again.

I hear a lot of people everywhere blabbering that the economic conditions can be blamed on un-motivated people receiving public assistance or welfare, or whatever....

Motivated people who would otherwise be on some sort of assistance go to school and get into debt usually, and in turn end up working low-wage jobs outside of their fields of study too frequently to pay off their obligations to the banks.

Technological advancements which basically eliminate the jobs they were learning to do in college before they graduate eliminate or render them unqualified when they do, along with the fact that not everyone can be a rock star (as in technology reduces the demand for their job) further exacerbates the problem.

What we have here is an outdated system of nearly anything you can think of, especially education, that can't keep up with advancements in technology in anything but "Real Lag time".

Only the big boys have the money to stay current on technology and offer their goods and services at the lowest cost.

Geewillickers, they can even 3D print house now!!!.

Gotta watch out for that "Implied consent" BS , or sometimes I think it's referred to as "Acquiescense" (sp), any mail from the criminal banksters needs to be scrutinized ASAP.Notice was served, but you didn't read it soon enough.

Or # like this happens.

Been there.

a reply to: DARKJEDIG

a reply to: DARKJEDIG

I have two federally registered corporations, one of which is a research company involved in 27 patents, we own one patent outright within the company and have over 700 copyrights in technology papers. We've done work for SDI, DARPA, NRC, ORF/ORDCF, Armscor, SADF, universities, colleges and governments as well as the private sector. With 40 plus years of experience and a research business running for 30 years, we are having some serious troubles. Investment capital is just not there and the banks actively work against small business.

I have been watching an inordinate number of businesses die since about 2000 and I see it all as a collusion between the main players (larger firms and multinationals), the banking sector and of course the government. It appears to be an organizing of the centralizing of corporate power to effectively manage the government (sheep herders) in a fashion more conducive to channeling wealth (slave labour) to their specific benefit.

Retail operations are very difficult, I owned a music store as well, back about 10 years ago but with the advent of torrents, that collapsed in a hurry and lost about $150,000. Bars have been killed off primarily by the no smoking laws and possibly in part with the drop in the legal BH limits. I don't advocate driving while impaired but a one beer limit over a four hour period is a bit ridiculous and meant to inspire fear rather than responsibility. This change in bars and restaurants of course effects the entire music industry, which is also collapsing, but also due to people just not having the money because of the other financial effects of this economy.

If one thinks logically, you can trace almost every negative effect in the economy directly back to rules and laws created by the government. We are heading for a collapse of proportions that no one has ever seen in our faked 7000 years of history.

Cheers - Dave

originally posted by: MyHappyDogShiner
I hear a lot of people everywhere blabbering that the economic conditions can be blamed on un-motivated people receiving public assistance or welfare, or whatever....

Motivated people who would otherwise be on some sort of assistance go to school and get into debt usually, and in turn end up working low-wage jobs outside of their fields of study too frequently to pay off their obligations to the banks.

Technological advancements which basically eliminate the jobs they were learning to do in college before they graduate eliminate or render them unqualified when they do, along with the fact that not everyone can be a rock star (as in technology reduces the demand for their job) further exacerbates the problem.

What we have here is an outdated system of nearly anything you can think of, especially education, that can't keep up with advancements in technology in anything but "Real Lag time".

Only the big boys have the money to stay current on technology and offer their goods and services at the lowest cost.

Geewillickers, they can even 3D print house now!!!.

I have to agree, my son received a three year degree and finished with a 3.78 GPA. Because of the economy, we all had to go into debt to get him through. Now, one would expect that finishing high in his field (which was in demand until the government pulled funding) would land him a respectable employment position. It didn't happen, he works for MacDonalds and had to travel halfway across the nation to get a job there, because he had friends in hiring positions (he tried for a year to get a job in our area in a 150 mile radius which included a city with a population of over 2 million). He constantly tries to do contract work in his field on the side to stay "fresh" and aware of all the new technology, so he's motivated and he's capable.

What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong with a society that destroys its economy and small businesses, it's younger generation that in many cases is qualified, capable and motivated, and destroys its older working base as well (those 50 and older) that have a wealth of experience, but may never work again because of their age and the collapsed economy?

A few Ayn Rand quotes;

The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles. - Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 1966

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force. - Ayn Rand

“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion, when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing, when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors, when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you, when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.” - Ayn Rand

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: bobs_uruncle
Even The Irvine Ranch Company is rumored to soon be filing for bankruptcy...the number one housing developer in Orange County CA.

originally posted by: MyHappyDogShiner
Gotta watch out for that "Implied consent" BS , or sometimes I think it's referred to as "Acquiescense" (sp), any mail from the criminal banksters needs to be scrutinized ASAP.Notice was served, but you didn't read it soon enough.

Or # like this happens.

Been there.

a reply to: DARKJEDIG

Read up on the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) and sign everything "Without Prejudice" which indicates you do not agree with anything or will be bound by anything that has not been explicitly signed by you under contract law. It may be just an interim solution and plays by "their" rules, but you must know how your enemy operates before you can defeat them.

Uniform Commercial Code

You can of course also use search engines to find this data and explanations on its use and implementation.

Cheers - Dave

originally posted by: Granite
a reply to: bobs_uruncle
Even The Irvine Ranch Company is rumored to soon be filing for bankruptcy...the number one housing developer in Orange County CA.

That doesn't sound very good at all. A viable business cannot operate in a government implemented vacuum, but certainly evil can. I think I put an Ayn Rand quote up about that ;-)

Cheers - Dave

I am familiar with the UCC codes.

Failing to read a contract within a given time frame assumes your acceptance of it in some cases, gotta read it, they already were doing business with the bank responsible, which implies acceptance in the terms and conditions of most banks or anything else these days.

It's better to understand what it is being offered and refuse it than to risk allowing it to become force of law because of not reading it and not realizing you were being served notice.

Unconscionable contracts are enforceable , the names of things have been changed to protect the guilty who take advantage of the ignorant.

That "Freeman" stuff is real, most can't afford the time or the money to learn it actually exists so they pass it off as a "conspiracy theory" with the help of religious institutions, banks and the media liars by way of the corporations and governements which have endless amounts of time and money to hire bright young lawyers to write legislation to have passed as laws and rape the entire world and everyone and everything in it and on it for a buck.

I am a poor man with a conscience, and that is why I am poor.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

originally posted by: MyHappyDogShiner
I am familiar with the UCC codes.

Failing to read a contract within a given time frame assumes your acceptance of it in some cases, gotta read it, they already were doing business with the bank responsible, which implies acceptance in the terms and conditions of most banks or anything else these days.

It's better to understand what it is being offered and refuse it than to risk allowing it to become force of law because of not reading it and not realizing you were being served notice.

Unconscionable contracts are enforceable , the names of things have been changed to protect the guilty who take advantage of the ignorant.

That "Freeman" stuff is real, most can't afford the time or the money to learn it actually exists so they pass it off as a "conspiracy theory" with the help of religious institutions, banks and the media liars by way of the corporations and governements which have endless amounts of time and money to hire bright young lawyers to write legislation to have passed as laws and rape the entire world and everyone and everything in it and on it for a buck.

I am a poor man with a conscience, and that is why I am poor.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Very important advice, read everything! There are escape vectors as you stated but they are time consuming. I just did a little research here in Canada and found out you can rescind your birth certificate and social insurance number. If you want to operate at arm's length with the social contract, you need to re-sign everything, but according to the UCC with provisions to remove yourself from any unsigned social contracts. Most people as you say, don't have the time or energy to do research this and then act on it, it doesn't require much money.

On your comment "I am a poor man with a conscience, and that is why I am poor," my greatest mistake was acknowledging my conscience back in 2000 when everything started going "south."

Cheers - Dave

We will soon be completely reliant on big corporations. That is their plan. The government is actually in agreement with this, we won't challenge the government or they will have these corporations shut down temporarily. It is a script that the ones in power use. It has been a part of government policy around the world for a thousand or more years. It is not a new practice.

I'm not saying it is bad or good, I am just stating the technique that has been used for many generations. Don't worry about this, we can't do much about it anyway.

I have a little story. I opened a retail service business with my ex wife in 2006. I went over budget in my TI by $9000. I paid it off inside of 6 months with profits from the business, which had positive cash flow from day one. Over the next couple years we saw business grow steadily and we had to hire new people periodically, expanding our staff from the original 3 to 8 or 9 at one time.

Then something happened in 2008. Can you guess what that was?

The growth curve for the business went from being angled to FLAT almost immediately. Over the next 3-4 years we saw business slowly but consistently decrease. We didn't have the money to advertise as much to replace the natural churn that businesses of our type experience. Employees left because they weren't getting new clients.

The business killed my marriage, but that's a whole 'nuther thread. My (ex, by this time) wife decided that it was costing her too much to keep s it open, and she closed it.

We did all we could to keep it open. The Obama administration did all it could to prevent it from succeeding. Obama won.

This anti-American traitor needs to GO, and no one like him must ever be allowed back in the white house.

a reply to: DARKJEDIG

In some of the local businesses in my area, they are no longer accepting credit cards at all for transactions because of another bank related thing--credit card fees. One of the has a sign up that explains that they are getting charged $4-6 per credit card transaction. That's just another one way that small businesses are dying, I think. Exorbitant fees on credit transactions and I know that's been going on for some time.

I've watched a number of businesses fail just within a 5 minute driving radius of me. It's pretty unsettling as many of those things that were once locally run are now turning into national chains. I think it concern people as small businesses are a huge employer within the US and they also assure diversity of products for consumption. One of the local stores that I lost used to have several lines of locally made household cleaners (that were awesome, btw) and laundry detergents. That store is gone and now my local choices for detergents are Tide and All. Loss of local businesses leads to a loss of diversity and representation of other local businesses that don't have shelf space in the national chains.

I am thinking 4-6 percent, maybe? Our credit card fees totaled well over $500 a month - 1/4 of our rent.

Global would just send us a statement telling us how much they skimmed.


It is unfortunate that national chains fill the vacuum left by local ownership failures. The (mis)perception is that national chains are better or more reliable because they have slick advertising campaigns and slogans and cool logos and whatever. The reality is that they don't care about you, really. The local owner does, though - THEIR business depends on good customer relations.

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

Pretty sure it said dollars. I'm not sure who they are doing their banking with. I'll double check on Saturday when I make usual stop there, lol.

We used to have a family business until it got chewed up and spat out by a Goliath (David lost in that case lol). Our business was actually very successful which was the reason why it was targeted and they used all sorts of shenanigans to shut us down. We were making about a million or so in profit in the 90's each year. After declining the offer to purchase our family business, we were losing about $250k a month.

National chains v. small, locally run businesses really is an unfair competition. One of the things that I've discussed elsewhere on this subject is a drive towards the aesthetic. Most small businesses cannot afford costly renovations or hiring the top interior designers or architects to make an artful and appealing establishment. Comparing the now late locally owned grocery store to the Safeway down the road, it was very obvious. It was dated appearing and in the year before its death, the owners appeared to recognize that and had started renovating sections of the store. They end up dying because more people went to the Safeway that had sections of hardwood floors and other nice details. One felt shabby, the other felt slick. How does one compete with that?

It's slick indeed. The corporation that we were branded under had very strict requirements for the appearance of our sites from everything to just the perfect shade of paint and what the entire place should look like overall. Super clean bathrooms and so on. It's serious business and for a reason. As Texaco put it, having a homogenous appearance for their gas stations meant that a person could travel anywhere in the US and be able to go into their brand locations and have an uniform experience. They all do it--even gas stations who once had the reputation of having notoriously bad bathrooms, lol. We chose aesthetic over diversity.

The major brands don't even have to advertise anymore because everybody already knows who they are. Want nice baby clothes? Go to Baby Gap. Looking for some hiking boots? Journeys. Every mall across the nation has the same darn stores. And they all look alike, carry the same things. The only thing that differs is whose behind the cash registers. If people think that's a good thing, I always ask "what if you want something different?"

a reply to: WhiteAlice

You are right about the aesthetic component, which many mom & pop operations don't really understand. It is a core component of marketing and customer experience. Large outfits know all about this - it's a science almost. With our business I did know about it and did the interior design, lighting design, all identity design, right down to color selection for its psychological influence. Even the furniture style I chose for a reason.

But that only gets you so far in an economy that is being deliberately destroyed.

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

Yeah, pretty much. We were very savvy about aesthetics even after we broke all ties with a major brand in self-defense. Didn't matter. They figured out who was selling to us and did the same things that were killing our ability to do business. They wanted us taken down and bad. There was even a suit and complaints brought forward to the FTC about what was going to every mom and pop in the area (and in other states as well) by all the major oil companies. They were doing the same thing, everywhere, at the same time. Redlining, anti-competitive practices and more. The FTC agreed that the oil companies had done all of these things and were acting anti-competitively but--get this--it was still competition albeit "troubling".

www.ftc.gov...

We all lost. Kind of makes me laugh actually. Most people have no idea that the oil companies deliberately raised the price of gas by up to $0.25 a gallon just to kill their own distributors, jobbers, and independent retailers. They fleeced everyone and got away with it.

It's dirty.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Small businesses are having a harder time getting a foothold, probably because of the way the banks are operating holding usable capital close to their chests instead of promoting economic growth.

You want to know why banks are doing this? Because the federal reserve is paying them billions to not loan money to small businesses.

originally posted by: buster2010
a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Small businesses are having a harder time getting a foothold, probably because of the way the banks are operating holding usable capital close to their chests instead of promoting economic growth.

You want to know why banks are doing this? Because the federal reserve is paying them billions to not loan money to small businesses.

I knew that, the BOC in Canada is doing exactly the same thing. They are all saying that they have to be careful and say they have tightened up the rules, but that is not the case. They have skewed the rules to allow only businesses above a certain size to compete in markets. And really it isn't even competition because all larger businesses are subsequently owned by a handful of people. It's monopoly and combine management under the guise of (predatory) capitalism.

Cheers - Dave