Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

[lektrode]

methinks the bullhorn has now gone into overdrive to force QE-whatevah...
and check out who did the poll...

• September 7, 2011, 12:14 PM ET

Small-Business Owners Prepared for Double Dip

http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/...or-double-dip/
By John Kell
A vast majority of the nation’s small-business owners expressed concern about the possibility of a double-dip recession, according to the latest Citibank survey, though many also said they are successfully coping with uncertain economic conditions.

Getty Images

According to the survey, nine out of 10 small business owners said they are concerned the nation could slip back into a recession. But 79% of small business owners said they are prepared if the economy were to experience another downturn.
“We have some uncertain economic conditions, and in that context, what is very encouraging is business owners are very prepared,” said Raj Seshadri, the head of small-business banking at Citibank, the retail banking arm of Citigroup Inc.
Seshadri told Dow Jones Newswires that the business owners are being thoughtful and prudent about the elements they can control–including costs, hiring and efforts to boost sales.
The survey found 78% of small business owners said they plan to keep the same number of employees, while 17% intend to increase hiring. Citibank also found 30% of small-business owners intend to hire temporary or part-time workers instead of full-time employees.
Seshadri said the hiring and employment data was positive, saying that at least from this segment of the economy, the job count isn’t expected to shrink.
“There is some indication of growth with the expected addition of temporary and part-time workers, and while it is not as much as we would like to see, given the circumstances, the desire to hire more part-time labor shows how prepared the business owners are and they are holding their own right now,” Seshadri said.
Small-business owners said they expect to improve or expand their business this year by increasing marketing efforts, getting better pricing from vendors or landlords and introducing new products and services. The companies stressed that important issues for their businesses next year include consumer confidence and taxes and government regulation.
Nearly half of small-business owners believe they will hold their own in 2012, but are poised to grow when the climate is right. Citibank’s survey also found 28% see their businesses growing next year, while 23% said they will struggle to keep their heads above water or expect to be on a downward slide.
The Citibank poll was conducted in August among a random sample of 1,000 small businesses in the U.S. with revenue over $100,000 and no more than 100 employees.

[EasternBelle]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

That means of course that the tax breaks announced yesterday by Obama for small businesses should be welcomed, were it not for the flattening of the yield curve that according to Pimco's Gross is going to make banks very reluctant to lend as their margins on loans decrease. So the Fed can say we have lowered credit costs, Obama can say we have tried to work with tax breaks, it's still not working. What's next: Unfortunately we do need more QE? Or is this a set up to ground Obama's job creation plan before it even would have a chance?

EasternBelle

[sunskyfan]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

How about all the small businesses and self-employed that are now not a business? They keep think that if they just "multiply" the current economy by something it will grow, get bigger, and create jobs. Anything times zero is still zero. Everything is flat as far as the eye can see. There is no derivative to amplify. If you want to put people back to work HIRE them.

[c1ue]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

That means of course that the tax breaks announced yesterday by Obama for small businesses should be welcomed, were it not for the flattening of the yield curve that according to Pimco's Gross is going to make banks very reluctant to lend as their margins on loans decrease.

I would ask that a little more rigor be used when talking about lending, small businesses, and job creation.

Specifically:

1) Most job creation is via small businesses
2) Most job creation via small businesses is via new small businesses
3) New small businesses are very risky
4) Banks don't lend to risky prospects - they never really did and whatever little they did, is now gone.

Neither tax breaks nor the yield curve mean squat for the above 4 points.

I've started several businesses, know many people who start businesses, and (with a couple exceptions related to direct subsidies) none of us ever started a business for the tax break.

[Raz]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

That means of course that the tax breaks announced yesterday by Obama for small businesses should be welcomed, were it not for the flattening of the yield curve that according to Pimco's Gross is going to make banks very reluctant to lend as their margins on loans decrease. So the Fed can say we have lowered credit costs, Obama can say we have tried to work with tax breaks, it's still not working. What's next: Unfortunately we do need more QE? Or is this a set up to ground Obama's job creation plan before it even would have a chance?

EasternBelle

This country needs more QE like we need a massive earthquake or a nuclear meltdown.


OBAMA – THE WIMPY PRESIDENT

7th September 2011




”I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” – Wimpy from the Popeye comic

Wimpy was a glutton, and would consume burgers at a ferocious rate but could rarely pay for his habit. The phrase implies the underlying feeling that the person will unlikely actually pay for the hamburger (or whatever) on Tuesday (or ever, for that matter). Does that describe the United States of America in general and specifically our Keynesian President Barack Obama?

Obama’s speech tomorrow night is no longer a secret. For whatever reason, the White House purposely leaks the major themes of the speech. Based on the Bloomberg article below I’d say my article from two weeks ago anticipating Obama’s plan is about 99% on the mark (http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=20378).

How stupid and gullible can the American people be? One month ago Obama signed a supposed $2.1 Trillion deficit cutting bill over ten years with 60% of the identified cuts between 2018 and 2021 (TUESDAY). A full 1% of the total cuts ($21 billion) were slated for 2012. The left wing libtards screamed like a stuck pig about these horrific cuts that would destroy the American economy and starve orphans and old people. Paul Krugman’s head started to spin and green vomit was projected all over the NYT press office.



Well our cost cutting, spending focused, deficit hawk president (WIMPY) held the line on spending for exactly 30 days. He is asking for $300 billion of burgers for 2012 and he promises to pay for them at some time in the future (after his hoped for 2nd term is up in 2016). The balls on this guy are immense. Not only that, but its the same bullshit he’s been peddling for two and a half years.

• Extend the payroll tax cut
• Extend unemployment benefits
• Send billions to the states so they don’t have to get their budgets to balance
• Pour billions into “shovel ready” infrastructure projects that don’t exist

The Democrats tell us that Social Security is a secure program that is fully funded even though the Trustees report on the fund shows a $17.5 trillion unfunded liability. Obama cut the Social Security tax from 6.2% to 4.2% at the beginning of this year. This was supposed to give a huge boost to the economy. How’d that work out? But I thought the 6.2% we paid was supposed to fund our retirements. In reality, Obama’s plan is like having you reduce your 401k contribution from 6.2% to 4.2% and telling you your income just increased.

Obamanistas and Keynesians are only worried about today. Screw the future. Obama will be out of office, writing memoirs, and doing the talking circuit, earning millions, when the implications of his brilliant plans destroy the country.

How many times can they extend unemployment benefits? The extension of unemployment benefits keeps the unemployment rate from falling. That is a fact. The Federal Reserve did a study and concluded that extending unemployment compensation added 1% to the unemployment rate.

A Chicago Federal Reserve study suggests that the extension of unemployment insurance benefits during the recent economic downturn can account for somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 percentage point of the increase in the unemployment rate, with a preferred estimate of 0.8 percentage points.

So, in a Keynesian mind, extending unemployment benefits somehow creates jobs even though scientific data proves that people don’t look for work until their benefits are about to run out. Do we live in bizarro world?

The infrastructure bullshit is all about getting union votes in the next election. You can bet that any money distributed by the Obamanistas for infrastructure will go to the districts that will be most important to his re-election in 2012. This will be nothing but pork.

Black topping roads and building parks and fixing schools that should have been fixed ten years ago is not infrastructure. The sewer pipes and water pipes beneath our cities are crumbling, but repairing and replacing pipes isn’t sexy enough for Obama and his Keynesians. They will continue to burst while the money is spent on green energy bullshit projects. The electrical grid will be ignored because no one votes for you because you make a good long-term investment. A tot lot or train museum named after your Congressman is what you’ll get.

But don’t you worry. Obama will pay you next Tuesday for the $300 billion of spending he’ll do today.





http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=21188

[flintlock]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

Neither tax breaks nor the yield curve mean squat for the above 4 points.

I've started several businesses, know many people who start businesses, and (with a couple exceptions related to direct subsidies) none of us ever started a business for the tax break.

My thoughts exactly.

[flintlock]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

Love the comparison to wimpy. Its one I like to use myself.

But allow me to make one correction

Obamanistas and Keynesians are only worried about today. Screw the future. Obama will be out of office, writing memoirs, and doing the talking circuit, earning millions, when the implications of his brilliant plans destroy the country.

"Obamanistas" should read "Most politicians". Obama has merely taken this insanity and turned it into an art form. But they all love to do it.

[Raz]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

Love the comparison to wimpy. Its one I like to use myself.

But allow me to make one correction



"Obamanistas" should read "Most politicians". Obama has merely taken this insanity and turned it into an art form. But they all love to do it.

You ...you ...you mean you don't trust Mc'Connell, Reid and Boehner to "rise above partisanship" and do the right thing?

I'm sure our "bipartisan" president will graciously steer them to "do what's best for Amerika".

[lektrode]

Re: Batten Down the Hatches: Small biz owners prep'd for double-dip

all we have to fear is fear itself...

well... that and getting priced out of supermarkets, gas stations, walmart and mickey d's

other than that?

http://www.palgrave-journals.com/eej...eej20118a.html

So we’re having an economic crisis. I say “having,” not “had,” because we have by no means recovered. Financial panic may have subsided, stocks may be up, but employment remains far below pre-crisis levels, and unemployment — especially long-term unemployment — remains disastrously high. And while you can make the case that the economy is slowly on the mend, slowly is the operative word. We have already been through two years of economic purgatory, and there's no end in sight.
There is a real sense in which times like these are what economists are for, just as wars are what career military officers are for. OK, maybe I can let microeconomists off the hook. But macroeconomics is, above all, about understanding and preventing or at least mitigating economic downturns. This crisis was the time for the economics profession to justify its existence, for us academic scribblers to show what all our models and analysis are good for.
We have not, to put it mildly, delivered.

sez krugman, today