Oregon

The American Dream is real, but it may not be for much longer. What exactly is the American Dream? And why is it in danger? Elaine Parker of Job Creators Network explains. Donate today to PragerU: http://l.prageru.com/2eB2p0h Find out more about Job Creators Network and Information Station! https://informationstation.org/ Join Prager United to get new swag every quarter, exclusive early access to our videos, and an annual TownHall phone call with Dennis Prager! http://l.prageru.com/2c9n6ys Join PragerU's text list to have these videos, free merchandise giveaways and breaking announcements sent directly to your phone! https://optin.mobiniti.com/prageru You can support PragerU by clicking here: https://www.classy.org/checkout/donation?eid=60079. Free videos are great, but to continue producing high-quality content, contributions--even small ones--are a must! Do you shop on Amazon? Click https://smile.amazon.com and a percentage of every Amazon purchase will be donated to PragerU. Same great products. Same low price. Shopping made meaningful. VISIT PragerU! http://www.prageru.com FOLLOW us! PragerU is on Snapchat! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prageru Twitter: https://twitter.com/prageru Instagram: https://instagram.com/prageru/ JOIN PragerFORCE! For Students: http://l.prageru.com/2aozfkP Sponsor a Student: http://l.prageru.com/2aoz2ht JOIN our Educators Network! http://l.prageru.com/2aoz2y9 Script: What do you call it when people have a great idea and risk everything they have -- time, money, energy -- to make that idea a reality? I call it the American Dream. Ritu Shah-Burnham had an idea. She dreamed of opening a pizza franchise in Seattle, Washington. It wasn’t easy – it never is – but she made it happen. Richard Clark had an idea. Office buildings in fast growing Northern Florida needed janitorial services. He was bound and determined to see that they got it. He grew his business to over 200 employees. Kenneth Jarosch oversees a bakery in Chicago started in 1959 by his father and grandfather. The neighborhood has seen a lot of changes over the decades, but there’s always been one thing you could count on: delicious bread and pastries fresh from the Jarosch ovens. Ritu’s, Richard’s, and Kenneth’s stories are played out every day across America: a million variations on the same theme -- starting a business, running a business, keeping a business going. In fact, America leads the world in small business creation, with over 28 million small businesses. They generate over 64% of all new private sector jobs. And, let’s not miss the obvious: every big business with thousands of employees started out as a small business. Bernie Marcus opened two hardware stores in Georgia and Phil Knight sold running shoes out of the back of his car in Oregon. Thus were The Home Depot and Nike born. Given the importance of small businesses to the American economy, you would think the government on all levels -- city, state and federal -- would do everything it could to encourage their formation and growth. In other words, you’d think the government’s attitude would be, “How can we help you?” But, sadly, this is not the case. In fact, it’s the opposite. The government is killing small businesses -- killing them with excessive taxes, over-regulation and complicated compliance. One such burden is the current push to hike federal, state and city minimum wage rates from about $7.25 an hour to as much as $15. Ritu Shah-Burnham found this out the hard way. So did her employees. When the city of Seattle raised their minimum wage to $15 an hour, all the profit went out of Ritu’s pizza parlor. She couldn’t raise prices high enough to cover her new costs. She lost her business and her employees lost their jobs. Instead of their wages going up to $15, they went down to zero. Then there’s the Affordable Care Act, which requires businesses with at least 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance for all of them. The law’s definition of “full-time”? Just 30 hours a week. To survive all the added costs, many small companies have reduced their workers’ hours to below 30 per week. They’ve also become wary of expanding beyond 50 full time employees. For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/courses/economics/whats-killing-american-dream

• published: 26 Sep 2016
• views: 691278