History and present trends -- Belittled: how small became beautiful -- Why business got big: a brief history -- Understanding u.s. firm size and dynamics -- The advantages of size -- Big is better: the economics of firm size -- Job creation: the ace in the hole for the small is beautiful advocates? -- The myth of the genius in the garage: big innovation -- Small business in a big world -- Politics and policy -- A republic, if you can keep it: big business and democracy -- The strange career of antitrust -- Anti-trust from the great depression to the present -- Has big business gotten too big? -- Small business cronyism: policies favoring small business -- Living with giants -- Notes -- Index.
Summary:
"In public discourse in the United States, small businesses are lauded as drivers of the economy and keys to economic growth, while "big business" is often vilified. Even in the face of evidence that larger firms are proven to be more likely to stimulate economic growth, American public policy favors small businesses through measures such as lowering taxes or regulatory requirements for firms under a certain number of employees. The authors trace the anti-big business sentiment back to its roots in the early founding of our nation. While the Jeffersonian ideal of every citizen being self-employed made sense for a pre-industrial agrarian society, changes in technology have led to significant economies of scale for big businesses. Now, we see that countries with more self-employed workers are also more likely to be in poverty (think of emerging economies where everyone is an entrepreneur, and compare it to the compensation and benefits packages available to employees of large firms in more advanced economies). Rather than simply taking the opposite view that "bigger is better," the authors argue that a modern capitalist society has room for businesses of all sizes and that we should not be privileging one type of business over another due to size alone, especially when our perception of who creates jobs and grows the economy does not track with reality"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.