Hendrik Hertzberg on "The Job Creators," Nick Hanauer and "Squirrels and Nuts"

Hendrik Hertzberg (The New Yorker):

The rich are different from you and me: they have more stuff. But not that much more. What they mainly have more of than you and me is … money.

Over at Bloomberg View, Nick Hanauer, a member in good standing of the top one per cent of the top one per cent, debunks the sanctification of himself and his fellow rich folk as “job creators.” Hanauer, who has “started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software,” writes that he:

can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be.

When businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it is like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around.

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Howie P.S.: The Hanauer family is well known around these parts for the exploits of Nick's brother, Chip, but this Hanauer is worth your love as well.