1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: All right, this is news. I have been under the 2 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: weather recently, so my voice may sound a little different 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: than normal on this episode of news World. As we 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: begin to recover from the pandemic and life begins to 5 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: return to normal again, what can we learn from the 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: past year. In twenty twenty, the American economy suffered the 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: biggest financial collapse in history. But while Main Street suffered 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: that never before, the stock market continued to reach new eyes. 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: How could this be? The answer is that government had 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: slapped oppressive restrictions on small business while propping up Wall 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: Street and engineering an historic consolidation of power and wealth. 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: This isn't a new problem. During the last financial crisis, 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: Washington bailed out large banks, saying they would quote too 14 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: big to fail. When the photo government finally pushed out 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: the Cares Act in twenty twenty, it clearly favored the 16 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: wealthy and welcoanect, showing that small businesses were too small 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: to matter. People across the spectrum constantly complain about the 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: tyranny of big business, and they are not wrong. However, 19 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: too many think government is a solution. In reality, government 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: has proven itself the problem. That's why I'm pleased to 21 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: welcome my guest entrepreneur Carol Roth, her new book The 22 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: War on Small Business, How the government used the pandemic 23 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: to crush the backbone of America on veils the many 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: abuses of power inflicted on small businesses during the COVID 25 00:01:46,720 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: nineteen pendem. Carol, thank you for joining me in. Then 26 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: let me ask, first of all, why did you decide 27 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: to write The War and Small Business? Well, there, it's 28 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: a pleasure to be with you. And I was approached 29 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: very early on during the pandemic by HarperCollins, who wanted 30 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: somebody with an economic background to do a deep dive 31 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: into what was undoubtedly going to be a historic economic situation. 32 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: And from very early on I was concerned about small 33 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: business because I've been a long time small business advocate. 34 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: I had written a book about ten years ago that 35 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: talked about all of the risks to small business and 36 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: how challenging it is to be a small business owner. 37 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: And I never thought that I'd be writing a book 38 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: now that the number one risk to small business is 39 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: the government. So right before the Cares Act came out, 40 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: I knew that small business, because they didn't have the 41 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: clout in connections, were likely going to be the targets 42 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: of the shutdown, and I set forth in idea and 43 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: a plan in terms of how you could keep small 44 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: businesses afloat. You could keep people on the payroll, keep 45 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: them with a job even if they were at home, 46 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: and buy two to three months to figure out a 47 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: mitigation strategy. And obviously we knew that that wasn't going 48 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 1: to happen. So as I was researching the book and 49 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: you know, writing, I actually wrote about three and a 50 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: half books, frankly during the course of the pandemic. But 51 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: you know, things kept changing as time moved on. But 52 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: the one thing that was a consistent through line really 53 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: was not only the plight of what had happened to 54 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: small business, how the government picked winners and losers, but 55 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: like you said in the introduction, this enormous consolidation of 56 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: wealth and power from Main Street to Wall Street. So 57 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: I wanted to use that as sort of the starting 58 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: point to lay out this bigger discussion about decentralization versus 59 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: centralized power, what's happened over the past decade and a 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: half to two decades, and how it really is threatening 61 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: our economic freedom, not only for the backbone of the economy, 62 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: but for the average Americans on main street, and it's 63 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: a really dangerous path that we're going down. So from 64 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: your perspective, there's always been a certain bias against small business. 65 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: You look at regulations, licensing, etc. Ernando de Soto wrote 66 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: a brilliant book in the eighties called The Other Path 67 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: and which he walked through in virtually every city in 68 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: the world, that all of the biases are for big 69 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: business and against small business. What, in your judgment, made 70 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: this suddenly dramatically worse. Well, certainly, as you mentioned, there 71 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: has been this long path of as you said, licensure, 72 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: anti competitive regulations, even things that are framed that they're 73 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: supposed to be helping the little guy. You know, things 74 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: like Dodd Frank regulation ended up killing the small banks, 75 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: and we can talk more about that. But what was 76 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: so brazen at this point in time was that the 77 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: government came out and said you were an essential business, 78 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: and by and large those were large businesses, and you're 79 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: a non essential business, and by and large those were 80 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: small businesses. And this was not based on science or data. 81 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: This was based on political clout and connections. So you 82 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: could have a hair salon or a nail salon that 83 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: deals with human beings that was shut down that was small, 84 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: but a big box retailer that was doing dog nails 85 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 1: and dog grooming down the street was open. One of 86 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: the weirdest ones, from my perspective, were some of these 87 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: marijuana dispensaries that were deemed essential, but they had been 88 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: illegal just years before in some of these jurisdictions. So 89 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: it was very clear that there was a choice of 90 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: winners and losers, and that we were not all in 91 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: this together. You know, Amazon was not shut down, their 92 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: warehouse was not shut down. And if you had shut 93 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: down the big businesses, this probably would have lasted two 94 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: to three weeks before everybody was screaming. If you didn't 95 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: prop up the stock market via the FED, it would 96 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: have been these two to three weeks. So you had 97 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: this targeted focus on we're going to shut down the 98 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: small businesses because they're either too small to matter or 99 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: too hard to control, and they weren't appropriately compensated. In 100 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: the constitution, the concept of eminent domain, the government takes 101 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: your property for the quote unquote public good, they need 102 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: to compensate you justly for it. So if they were 103 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: going to go down that path, then say, well, you 104 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: are the ones that are quote unquote non essential, which 105 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: is a horrible thing to say to somebody who's put 106 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: their livelihood on the line. Then you need to come 107 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: and say them. And that didn't happen either, so you 108 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: had a double whammy. That really was a very brazen, 109 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: blatant attack on those who were not well connected. Well, 110 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: you know, I'm very curious because you pick up on 111 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: something which I think is really misunderstood, and that is 112 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: that if you don't have genuine free enterprise and bureaucrats 113 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: start making decisions, you inevitably drift into chronyism, and you 114 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: talk about chronyism replacing capitalism. I think this is a 115 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: very profound insight and one of the places where I 116 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: think what you're writing about is essential to our survival. Yeah. 117 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: I think this is one of the biggest misunderstandings out there, 118 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: particularly among younger people and people who don't come from 119 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: an economic background, and they hear the word capitalism and 120 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: they think that it means private enterprise, but it doesn't. 121 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: It means freedom and choice and transparency and the will 122 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: of the people making decisions, and that is guard railed 123 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: by the government protecting individual rights and property rights. We 124 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: have moved along that spectrum towards central planning, towards that 125 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: force control and corrosion, towards government picking winners and losers. 126 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: And that is to the benefit of these bigger businesses 127 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: that are connected. And it makes sense, right, it's much 128 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,559 Speaker 1: easier for politicians and government to deal with a handful 129 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: of big businesses. In our country, there's somewhere between ten 130 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: and fifteen thousand big businesses depending on how you calculate it, 131 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: instead of with what was pre COVID thirty point two 132 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: million small businesses who are all across different geographies, very independent, spirited, 133 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: in different industries, different sizes, and so know whether it 134 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:02,599 Speaker 1: is through regulatory cap sure in this anti competitive regulation, 135 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: whether it's something like Amazon when they were going to 136 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: move their headquarters and they had this giant beauty pageant 137 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: where they ran around so all the different states and said, well, 138 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: you give me your firstborn childs and naming rights and 139 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: all these kinds of things so that we can come 140 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: and bless your city with Amazon. If you're the local 141 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: pizza parlor, you certainly don't have that. So you have 142 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: that kind of blatant chronyism. And then you also have 143 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: what's been happening with the Federal Reserve. And what stood 144 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: out to me, and I know you knew that you've 145 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: been studying this as well, is the very first actions 146 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: that were taken in COVID were to support the stock market. 147 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: Very first things that happened, not the economy, not the 148 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: broader care of what's going on in main street, but 149 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: to support the stock market. Now, funny enough, immediately it 150 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: actually royaled the stock market, but that ended up looping 151 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: back pretty quickly. And if you think abou out what 152 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,559 Speaker 1: the government did here in this wealth transfer, not only 153 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 1: did they shut the small business down, so if you're 154 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: a consumer you can no longer spend with your local business. 155 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: You spent that money at some companies that were still open, 156 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: to Walmarts and the Amazons, and you increase the dollars 157 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: in their revenue. But then you had the Federal Reserve, 158 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: which is now up to eight trillion dollars on its 159 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: balance sheet, inflating the value of those companies and the 160 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 1: stock market as well, disrupting risk. You're hurting savers and retirees. 161 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: It's just this whole massive central planning system where a 162 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: few people are going to benefit their friends and if 163 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: you're in the club, you're going to be taken care of. 164 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: But for the rest of us, we're really seeing that 165 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: transfer of wealth and power happen, and it's impairing our 166 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: economic freedom. Isn't it a fact that for the top 167 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: couple hundred people, the scale of their increase in wealth 168 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: as a men historically on precedented it is. I mean, 169 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: we had seven tech companies that gained a three point 170 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: four trillion dollars in value, and so obviously the founders 171 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: of those companies and the big shareholders of those companies 172 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,079 Speaker 1: saw their wealth increase in lock step. And again it's 173 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: on two levels. It's on the fact that their revenue 174 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: is increasing, but it also has to do with all 175 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: the capital that saw this huge lifting and supporting of 176 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: the stock market. Additionally, last year, as hundreds of thousands 177 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: of small businesses closed, millions of more were struggling to survive, 178 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 1: it was a record year for initial public offerings. It 179 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: was a record year for very speculative vehicles called special 180 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: purpose acquisition companies or backs, in terms of the amount 181 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 1: that was raised through those vehicles. So if you were big, 182 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: you were trying to access capital, you were amongst the 183 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,959 Speaker 1: wealthy and owned something, then you saw that increase in value. 184 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: But if you own owned a small business, which ownership 185 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: is the path to wealth creation, they took that wealth 186 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: creation opportunity away from you. And that is not something 187 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: that the US government should be doing. And if I 188 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: understand it, the way they adopted the rules, if you 189 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: had an ongoing dry cleaner, or gas station or a restaurant, 190 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: you actually were all pretty under rules that were much 191 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: more negative in terms of access to capital then these 192 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: companies that the government was basically just handing money to. Yeah, 193 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: I mean there were in so many things that were 194 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: insane about the way that the different payments were structured, 195 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: but not entirely unsurprising. If you were a small business, 196 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: you had to go to a bank and apply for 197 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: a loan and jump through hoops and have paperwork and 198 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: have a clean credit history. But if you were the 199 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: Entity Center, you got twenty five million dollars, no strings attached, 200 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: no pun intended, and you know it was shut down 201 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: for what And they have all these assets and they 202 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: didn't have to jump through the hoops. And then the 203 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: way they structured in the beginning is that they put 204 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: the dollar amount so high and they made the parameters 205 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: so high that quote unquote big small businesses could apply. 206 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: Those who did have access to capital. Folks from Kanye West, 207 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: who was named a billionaire at about the same time 208 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: and unveiled his partnership with GAP, got a PPP loan 209 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: for his company. Tom Brady got a PPP loan for 210 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: his company. I mean, these were not the entities that 211 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: didn't have other access to capital and would have gone 212 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: under per government mandate. But boy, you know, as you 213 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: said that dry cleaners, the nail salons, the hair salons, 214 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: the restaurants, the pubs, and the stories are just so devastating. 215 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: We have a business here in Chicago. It was called 216 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: Southport Lane. It had been around for almost a hundred years. 217 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: It had survived as a bar and gathering place prohibition, 218 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: but could not survive the government mandates with COVID. And 219 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: the stories go on and on, you know, some of 220 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: them with just awful consequences, some with people taking their lives, 221 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: because you know, for small business owners, these are their livelihoods. 222 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: It's their souls, it's their money, it's their identity, it's 223 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: who they are in many cases, and that was just 224 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: completely cut off. At the same time that you're having 225 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: a banner year in the stock market and access to capital. 226 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: I mean, it's just so blatant, But too few people 227 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: understand things like the Federal Reserve and what has happened 228 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: there with the wealth transfer, which is part of what 229 00:14:48,080 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: I've tried to elucidate in the book. Has any of 230 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: this changed with the transition from Trump to Biden. No, 231 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: it's actually gone in the opposite direction. Obviously, we saw 232 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: what happened in twenty twenty. It was not good. But 233 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: now the new administration is doubling down on additional regulations 234 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: and policies that will make it harder for small businesses 235 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: to operate. Frankly, for a lot of businesses to operate. 236 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: The continuation of things like the unemployment incentive, for example, 237 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:46,119 Speaker 1: has made it impossible to get people back into the workforce. 238 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: I mean, we have nine point three million jobs that 239 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: are available and unfilled and we're still down I think 240 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: about eight million at this point in time from you 241 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: know where we were in February twenty twenty in terms 242 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: of people taking jobs in the workforce. And that's based 243 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: on the fact that the government is now competing with businesses, 244 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: and in large part small businesses for employees and small 245 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: businesses have raised their wages, they're offering signing bonuses, they're 246 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: offering all kinds of incentives, and they still cannot find folks. 247 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: And then with the Biden administration, they're pushing a bunch 248 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: of other anti competitive policies, certainly the National minimum wage 249 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: hike being one of them, which these interference in the 250 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: market is sort of a defacto way to get that 251 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: artificial minimum wage increase. Another one is the pro Act, 252 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: which affects the ability for gig workers to be independent contractors, 253 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: so that affects fifty nine million decentralized jobs, as well 254 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: as small businesses who often use contractors because they can't 255 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: afford or deal with all the different hoops and regulations 256 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: you have to jump through to hire an employee. We're 257 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: certainly trending in the direction of more regulation and more 258 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: government interference and not less of it. Structurally, we are broken, 259 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: but it's not only the structural issues. We're definitely trending 260 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: in the wrong direction. Well, and you write that China 261 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: has moved closer to capitalism and we've imported central planning 262 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: and moved further away from that and having more government control. 263 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: I mean you actually see almost a flip between the 264 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: two systems. Yeah. I mean it's like this weird, freaky 265 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: Friday thing that's going on. And I call it the 266 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: worst trade and balance that we exported capitalism to a 267 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: communist party, and basically they've moved along the spectrum to 268 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 1: move a little further away from central planning towards more 269 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: free choice and free opportunities. Certainly, they're never going to 270 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: get there all the way because they don't believe in 271 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: human rights, individual rights, property rights, but it has been 272 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: to their great benefit to be our capitalistic trading partners 273 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: has lifted the greater majority of that country out of 274 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: extreme poverty. At the same time, our trade and balance 275 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: is that we imported central planning and we have moved 276 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: further away from the free market more towards the force 277 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: and control and coercion and few people making decisions. And 278 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: the big issue that was made with the central planners 279 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: who normalized trade relations with China is they thought that 280 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: we could have free market trading with a partner that 281 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,360 Speaker 1: was communists, and we can't, and so obviously that has 282 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: been to our detriment. We imported deflation, which sounds great 283 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: in theory, but it also hurt our wages, it hurt innovation, 284 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: it hurt small business, or hurt manufacturing in the US, 285 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: and it didn't create a level of playing field because 286 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: it can't. We don't have that same open opportunity in 287 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: China because they're run by communists. So it's that kind 288 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: of level of thinking is, Oh, we think we're doing 289 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: this like super smart thing, and it ends up by 290 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,919 Speaker 1: us in the U nowhere. Yeah, it's a doubly interesting 291 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,719 Speaker 1: because when the Chinese want to do something, they have 292 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:13,400 Speaker 1: an efficiency and a ruthlessness that lets them behave much 293 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: more effectively than we do. I'm just showing a newsletter 294 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: about the opening of the new airfield at Chengdu, which 295 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: is where the giant panda is. This airfield is coming 296 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: in one schedule, under budget. It'll be huge. Beijing last 297 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: year past Atlanta as the largest airfield in the world. 298 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:39,120 Speaker 1: And while we're debating infrastructure, they're planning to build some 299 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 1: amazing number, like a hundred and thirty additional airports. Then 300 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: they go do it. Yeah, their core competency and this 301 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: kind of is an interesting layer on top of the 302 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: concept of individual rights and property rights, but their core 303 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: competency is replication, and so they do that very very well. 304 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,199 Speaker 1: They don't innovate because from a is taking standpoint, it 305 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: doesn't pay off to innovate because somebody can knock that off. 306 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: You don't have the protection of the property rights. So 307 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 1: because that has disrupted risk in their society, they have 308 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: moved to a replications scenario, which makes them, as you said, 309 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: very efficient. Also to our detriment, it means hundreds of 310 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: billions of knockoff goods running around the world. And this 311 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: is not just a big business problem. It's not just 312 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 1: the Guccis and the Louis Vutons of the world that 313 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: they're knocking off. But now on the intranet, you have 314 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: these small businesses who are posting their wares, and you've 315 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: got Chinese manufacturers who will literally knock off in some 316 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: cases the photo that the small business is using the item, 317 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,120 Speaker 1: do it at a fraction of the costs and list 318 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: it on Ali Baba and use their resources to become 319 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,880 Speaker 1: the top search term. So it's easy to think, oh, 320 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: this is just a luxury brand problem, but again this 321 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: is something where the small business owners that don't have 322 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: the scale to be able to fight this and deal 323 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: with are now having to deal with this issue because 324 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: we quote unquote opened up capitalism to communists. It's almost 325 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: like part of this is just chronyism and as no 326 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: economic rationale. I note that Harvard, which already has forty 327 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: billion dollars, got nine million dollars from the CARES Act. 328 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: I mean, what's the rationale? I think YO got seven. 329 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: So I'm the one that made a big deal about 330 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: this on Twitter last year. I'm sure that Harvard does 331 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,920 Speaker 1: not like me, and I tend to refer to them 332 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: as a hedge fund with a university attached to them, 333 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: because they do have this forty billion dollars under management. 334 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: But it was so crazy, you know, at the time, 335 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: when small businesses were fighting for scraps, they allocated this 336 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: big chunk of money to colleges. And if you think about, 337 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 1: as you said, the economic rationale there, the colleges had 338 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: already been paid by students for the semester that they 339 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: were in and they weren't given out any refunds, so 340 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 1: they were fully paid up. They didn't need any more capital. 341 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, the government has mostly nationalized 342 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: student lending, so it's basically our dollars that are going 343 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: to them anyway, and they're all tax advantaged and so 344 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: on and so forth. When this came about, no journalists 345 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: were reporting on this. I had seen something a paper 346 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: that one of my Twitter followers had linked to, and 347 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: I said, how is it that Harvard is getting this 348 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,360 Speaker 1: kind of money when I've got small businesses who can't 349 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: get money from PPP and it get it's a different 350 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: part of the Cares Act, but still it's all part 351 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: of the relief bill. And that ended up taking off 352 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: virally on Twitter, as it should have. But it's horrendous 353 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: that it had to be US citizens who were holding 354 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 1: them to task for giving out this money. Harvard doubled 355 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: doubt at first, and they said, nope, sorry, we're really struggling, 356 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: we really need this. And then they got pressure, and 357 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,199 Speaker 1: then some of the other universities when they saw the 358 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: bad press that Harvard was getting of Stanford and Princeton 359 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: bowed out and at that point to Harvard throw in 360 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,479 Speaker 1: the towel. But it's sort of this hollow victory because 361 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: it went back to the Department of Education. They probably 362 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,639 Speaker 1: reallocated it to some other university, but to think that 363 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: that was an allocation or the Kennedy center was an allocation, 364 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,120 Speaker 1: or some of the things they had for deep cleaning 365 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: buildings was an allocation. I mean, it was just so 366 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: blatantly a cronious exercise for something that would have cost 367 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: a fraction of what it costs probably about a trillion 368 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: or trillion a half dollars to keep small businesses afloat, 369 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: to keep people on the payroll, to keep them paying taxes, 370 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: make sure that they had businesses to go back to, 371 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: and to figure out a real mitigation strategy that let 372 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 1: people operate safely and focused on the most vulnerable populations. 373 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: And that's just not what happened. And that happened over 374 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: and over again, I mean all the way at the 375 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 1: end of the year, when you had another round of 376 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: shutdowns in places like New York and California. New York 377 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,280 Speaker 1: shut down restaurants for a second or third time, even 378 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: though their own contract tracing system had shown that only 379 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: one point four percent of the cases had been coming 380 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,400 Speaker 1: from restaurants. So again, the data is telling you this 381 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: isn't the epicenter of the issue. So how are you 382 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: making that decision and how are you getting away with 383 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: that compensating them? So how do you interpret it and 384 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: sort of a sociological or cultural issue. So is it 385 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: intentional or is it unintentional? Is it that they're too 386 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: small to matter and it needed to look like they 387 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: were doing something and so the small business becomes the 388 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: cannon fodder. Or is it that they're too hard to control? 389 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: And this is an easy way to get rid of 390 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,959 Speaker 1: a bunch of businesses so that we have fewer businesses 391 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: to deal with and we can have more consolidated power. 392 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: And what I would say is, if you look at 393 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: what happened and you were actively trying to hurt small 394 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: businesses and not just be one hundred percent obvious, but 395 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: maybe only ninety percent obvious, would you have done anything differently? 396 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: And I think most people would come to the conclusions 397 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: say no, I wouldn't have done anything differently. So it 398 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: seems like these decentralized, independent spirits stand in the way 399 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: of the concept of centralized power that we have been 400 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 1: moving towards at an accelerized paste, and this was just 401 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: an opportunity to take advantage of that situation. I also 402 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: do you think in terms of sort of selfishness at 403 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: particularly the state and city levels and places, Again, like 404 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: I'm from in Illinois, they probably figured that by throwing 405 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,239 Speaker 1: the small businesses under the bus and showing that they 406 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,360 Speaker 1: have this economic despair, that those states also could get 407 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: a bigger bailout to deal with their pension crises. And 408 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: I think that that also is driving the scenario here, 409 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: because they figured, well, let's not let this crisis go 410 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: to waste. We have this horrendous financial situation that we've 411 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: created ourselves, but if this is a way for us 412 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: to get out, we can just kill some small businesses 413 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 1: and plead our economies having all these challenges, and maybe 414 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 1: we can extract more dollars from that as well. So 415 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: that's a possibility, and she came in. So it seems 416 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: to me that the pension funds have not gotten the 417 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: kind of money they need. Certainly not because they're just 418 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: so far out of the realm of reality. And particularly 419 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: in states like Illinois, anytime you promise a defined benefit 420 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: to somebody, you create a situation with moral hazard because 421 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: you know you're going to be gone by the time 422 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: that needs to be fulfilled, and you end up kicking 423 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: that can down the road. And that's what's happened over 424 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: and over again in any of the places where we've 425 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: had these you promise benefits and it's gotten really, really bad, 426 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: and I think that's also part of the reason why 427 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: you've seen the Federal Reserve take action. One of the 428 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: things I talk about in the book, which was just unprecedented, 429 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: is that the head of Kelpers, which is the pension 430 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: plan in California, the largest in the nation at the time, 431 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: came out and wrote an op ed in the Wall 432 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,119 Speaker 1: Street Journal that basically said, Yeah, we need easy money, 433 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: and we need the stock market to stay up, and 434 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,359 Speaker 1: we need to take extra risks because if we don't 435 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: do that, we're never going to be able to maintain 436 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: our pension. And to actually see that in black and 437 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: white in the Wall Street Journal was like, he's just 438 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,159 Speaker 1: blatantly putting it out there. I feel like all of 439 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: these issues are very much tied together, and it goes 440 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: back to your central plannings per view and having so 441 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: much control over these kinds of decisions and promising things 442 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 1: that they just can't deliver on and letting somebody else 443 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: have to clean it up. At the end of the day, 444 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,880 Speaker 1: the person cleaning it up is the taxpayer, because, as 445 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: we know, the government doesn't produce anything of value, so 446 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: it's not like they're out there are producing goods and 447 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: services and paying for this. It raises two questions in 448 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: my mind. I always wondered why, back in the crisis 449 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: in seven, eight and nine, instead of handing the money 450 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: to the big banks, why didn't they hand the money 451 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: to the mortgage holders who would then have paid the 452 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: big banks, but in the process would have kept the houses. 453 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: It's an excellent point. It's the same thing that I 454 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: asked during the auto bailouts, said, oh, we need this 455 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: that the small businesses that are servicing them don't go under. 456 00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: It's like, well, then just make sure that the small 457 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: business don't go under. But obviously, and you know the 458 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: inner workings better than I do, but it seems like 459 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: it really is this excuse to help out and to 460 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: bail out cronies, even if they're the ones that are 461 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: enacting the bad behavior. And that's just the tragedy of 462 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: this whole situation. You're told that these banks are too 463 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: big to fail when they had taken the actions themselves. 464 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: Yet the small businesses who are too small to matter 465 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: are too hard to control. As I said, this was 466 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: not their fault, this was government mandate. So they're like 467 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: apples and oranges, and they're still getting the short end 468 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: of the stick. One last part of this, which is 469 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: I keep running across numbers that are so breathtaking and 470 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: it's hard to believe, and they're so invisible. So, for example, 471 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:59,479 Speaker 1: the Washington State unemployment compensation may have lost nine hundred 472 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: million to Nigerians. Now I would think that would be 473 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: a book in itself. I mean, how can a state 474 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: government lose nine hundred million dollars to a bunch of 475 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: guys hanging around logos at some kind of internet shop. 476 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: So I got into this. I began calling people and 477 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,239 Speaker 1: they said, oh, Washington State's nothing. The current estimate is 478 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: that California unemployment compensation has lost thirty two billion dollars, 479 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: mostly to California criminals. That the whole thing was organized 480 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: in house. Now why is this not a scandal. I mean, 481 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 1: I just gave you a numbers big enough you could 482 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: have probably saved half the small businesses in America and 483 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: instead of went to Nigerians and American criminals. We'll think 484 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: about the irs who sent out relief checks to people 485 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 1: who were deceased, into people who were living abroad as well. 486 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: So it's in every single level. And this is where 487 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: the media failure has just been breathtaking. I have been 488 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: media adjacent as a pundit for probably a dozen years now, 489 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: and the fact that they don't uncover these things. You know, 490 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: I mentioned they never looked into the CARES Act. They 491 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: actually didn't know the difference between CARES Act and PPP 492 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: and conflated it in many scenarios. You know, they're not 493 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: looking into these scandals. They are running cover for the 494 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: government and trying to get pats on the head and 495 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: trying to be brought in as the next press secretary 496 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: or whatnot. And there's this sort of revolving door between 497 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: the two. They become activists instead of being the group 498 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: that's holding government and politicians accountable. And that goes back 499 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: to this broader theme of decentralization. The people who are 500 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: actually doing the work are the creator economy, These decentralized 501 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: journalists who have podcasts and YouTube channels and websites and 502 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: social media accounts that are trying to do the work 503 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: that the traditional what's I guess now referred to as 504 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: corporate press, not even mainstream media, but corporate press is 505 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: unwilling to do. And the numbers are so large, and 506 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: the shell game of where the money goes, and you 507 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: know how we pay it to one entity and then 508 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: it gets distributed out to another entity and another You know, 509 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: there isn't that direct line where you're paying directly and 510 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: you have that transparency on where your money is going, 511 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: and it's to our detriment. And I don't think people 512 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: understand the scale of how much the government has increased. 513 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: I mean, from the time when you were in government 514 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: to today, we've had about a fifteen percent increase in 515 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: population and we've had like one hundred and forty percent 516 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: increase in spending. And that was before all of these 517 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: COVID dollars, which is taking it through the roof. At 518 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: this point, at all levels of governments, again, pre COVID 519 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: and pre anything that the Biden administration is going to add, 520 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: it's up to about eight point one trillion dollars at 521 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: all levels of governments. I mean, that is too much 522 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: money for a handful of people to be doling out. 523 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: So of course you're going to end up with criminals 524 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 1: getting money because they just don't have the scope to 525 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: be able to stop it. Let me ask you, none 526 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: of this is going to get better on its own, 527 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: how can listeners get involved in helping small businesses? So 528 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: the very first thing that a listener can do is 529 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: to support small businesses with their dollars, to vote with 530 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: their wallets. You know, if you're sitting around going Alexa, 531 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: why does Jeff Bezos have so much money? You have 532 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: lost the plot if you're doing all your shopping at Amazon. 533 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,240 Speaker 1: And not to say that they're a bad company, and 534 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 1: they do enable small businesses, but you can't one or 535 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: how they're getting so big if you're spending all your 536 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: money with them. So I do think voting with their 537 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: dollars is important. And then I think the other thing 538 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 1: is standing up against legislation and pushing for more deregulation 539 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: if things like the minimum wage and the Proact, even 540 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,360 Speaker 1: if it sounds like it's coming from a good place, 541 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: good intentions, as we know, do not lead to good outcomes, 542 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: and so it's very important that you understand that whatever 543 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: is being done never ends up to the benefit of 544 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: the little guy. Ever, like we've got like a whole 545 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,000 Speaker 1: history and there's really nothing you can point to to 546 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: prove that out. So if you're not comfortable in speaking 547 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,239 Speaker 1: up broadly on a platform, because Obviously, cancel culture is 548 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 1: a real thing now, and people get harassed and whatnot. 549 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: Just take the time privately to call your representatives and 550 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: to make your voice heard, because we can't afford for 551 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: people to not be active. And that's the biggest challenge. 552 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: When you're decentralized, when you're independent, when you're a free spirit, 553 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: you just want to be left alone, nude, you'd want 554 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: to just put your head down and do your thing. Unfortunately, 555 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 1: that's when all the other bad actors come in and 556 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: take over or so. I think it's important to remember 557 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: that freedom is something that we need to continually actively 558 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,160 Speaker 1: fight for and protect. Otherwise we're going to be in 559 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: a situation where we don't have these wealth creation opportunities. 560 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 1: And we're seeing it with housing, we're seeing it in 561 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 1: the stock market, we're seeing it with small businesses. Ownership 562 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:34,439 Speaker 1: is the path to wealth creation. Those opportunities are being 563 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,880 Speaker 1: taken away, and we're going to be in a really 564 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 1: bad scenario if we have a handful of people owning 565 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: all the wealth creation opportunities. We're already headed in that direction. Listen, 566 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,800 Speaker 1: I really appreciate you being so involved. I look forward 567 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: to anything else you write because you have such a 568 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,760 Speaker 1: unique insight. We're going to have a link to your book, 569 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: The War and Small Business, How the Government used the 570 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 1: Pandemic to rush the Backbone of America on our showpage 571 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: at Newtsworld dot com. And I really look forward to 572 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:08,160 Speaker 1: talking with you again in the future because I think 573 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: you know you've had some insights that are very powerful 574 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: and are central to the survival of freedom in the 575 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: United States. So thank you very much, Carol for joining 576 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 1: me today. Thank you so much, Nude. I really appreciate 577 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,920 Speaker 1: the platform and your willingness to support and advocate for 578 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 1: small business and for economic freedom and the individual. The 579 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: unique example in the entire world is our country, and 580 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: we need to preserve it for future generations. Thank you 581 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,919 Speaker 1: to my guests. Carol Roth. You can get a link 582 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:43,399 Speaker 1: toward our new book, The War on Small Business, How 583 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,560 Speaker 1: the Government used the Pandemic to Crush the Backbone of 584 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:51,759 Speaker 1: America on our show page at newtsworld dot com. Newtsworld 585 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: is produced by English three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive 586 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:02,160 Speaker 1: producer is Debbie Myers, our producer is Gornsey Sloan, and 587 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The ur work for The 588 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:10,759 Speaker 1: show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the 589 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,479 Speaker 1: team at Kingwidge three sixty. If you've been enjoying news World, 590 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate 591 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,239 Speaker 1: us with five stars and give us a review so 592 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:25,719 Speaker 1: others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners 593 00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:29,840 Speaker 1: of Newsworld can sign up for my three free weekly 594 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: columns at Kingwrish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm 595 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,160 Speaker 1: Newt Kingridge. This is Newt World.