"Demand Is The Bottom Line"
Demand is the bottom line. I'll hire more people when there is more demand for my product. - New Jersey small business owner
I spent some time yesterday with a small business owner in New Jersey and I asked him about the different tax incentive proposals being bandied about by the Obama Administration. His reaction? He'll take the the extra money but it won't spur him to hire workers or make capital investments. What will? He said "demand is the bottom line. When demand for my product goes up, then I'll increase capacity, by hiring or making capital investments."
This sentiment echoes the expressions of former Bush Treasury Secretary and Alcoa chairman Paul O'Neill ("I had a rule when I was in the private sector for 25 years, including 13 running Alcoa, and that is, don't hire people unless you have somebody demanding goods that you can't produce with the people you already have.") Robert Reich makes a similar point:
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