The Atlas Society Labor Day Lesson: Create Your Own Job
NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jobs are the top topic on most peoples' minds. Too many Americans are without them and those with them worry about losing them.
Edward Hudgins, director of advocacy for the non-profit think tank, Atlas Society, argues that to discover the path to employment, we must understand that "a job is not an object that you might possess, like a house, car, or computer. It is an ongoing economic relationship one has in the pursuit of profits. Entrepreneurs want to make money by meeting the demands of consumers. To that end they must employ resources such as machines and equipment, offices or factory space, borrowed or saved capital and, of course, labor. Thus employees provide certain services to the employer who, in turn, provides a salary and benefits to the employee."
Of course, economic conditions and consumer demands are always changing. This means that entrepreneurs are always redistributing resources, including labor.
Hudgins makes clear that "When an economy is growing, there can be high rates of job turnover. This is a sign of a healthy economy as entrepreneurs put labor to its most economically valuable use. Entrepreneurs might eliminate 10 jobs but create 12 for a net increase in employment."
Today's job market is bleak. "While entrepreneurs and investors have considerable capital, few want to risk it because of economic uncertainty and growing government regulatory and tax burden, which make doing business more costly. And thus they are not hiring new workers," says Hudgins.
But he also urges individuals to change their own views of themselves as workers if, in the long run, they seek greater employment opportunities. "The distinctions between worker, management, investor, and entrepreneur are artificial. We are all managers of our own time and investors in our own skills and education. We are all entrepreneurs of our economic lives, looking for the best opportunities at a given time."
Hudgins points out that "Some 15 million Americans are self-employed. They are employers and employees. Small firms are usually started by one or a handful of entrepreneurs and grow into profitable concerns. Indeed, enterprises with less than 100 workers account for about one-third of all jobs in America."
His message for Labor Day is "Government should free entrepreneurs from tax and regulatory burdens and that all individuals should free the entrepreneur within them!"
SOURCE The Atlas Society
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