Notes

My opinion on whether America's economic backbone relies on small businesses, prior to reading and analyzing The Case for Big Business, was that of which I'd assume the majority believes, that America does indeed rely on small businesses. Post reading this interview with economist Rob Atkinson, my opinion has certainly changed. Big business has brought a multitude of benefits, albeit some negatives, to America, such as abuse of employees in terms of working conditions, and creating a monopoly in one area, essentially eliminating other small businesses that cannot compete with what Big Business has to offer. Although I tend to believe that most would not agree with the sentiment of backing Big Business and recognizing the benefits it can provide and does provide, I know that it's important to recognize truly how much the top 500 largest corporations in America have done, economically, for our nation, at the least. To directly quote Atkinson, Big Business Behemoths are "more efficient, more productive, but also more innovative" (pg.1 paragraph 2). This is certainly hard to dispute, as these massive corporations clearly have a significant advantage when it comes to optimization and efficiency, which is another unsung benefit of Big Business. Reading deeper into what Atkinson spoke about with Big Business benefitting from the innovation of technology, as far back as the creation of the rail road goes, "when we got technology starting with the rail road, which all of a sudden enabled companies to get big" (pg.2 paragraph 1), I've began to appreciate and agree with Atkinson in this area of this discussion. I believe that when companies are able to advance technologically, even as far back as rail road technology, it allows for expedited technological advancements that can benefit humanity as a whole, quicker than it would without Big Business. Towards the latter part of the article, one paragraph stood out to me, when it's said that "Large companies ability to reinvest profits applies in every industry, and has substantial benefits for employees in labor-intensive fields like retail and food service" (pg.2 paragraph 5). The reason this stood out to me was because I honestly hadn't considered that this allows for Big Business companies to offer higher wages to their employees, as well as offer considerably more valuable benefits. These attributes significantly swayed my opinion on whether or not America's economic backbone relies on small businesses. I'm not saying America doesn't benefit from small businesses, rather that the multitude of benefits Big Business offers, should certainly be taken into account and factored in when forming an opinion American economics. On the contrary, I do not work for a Big Business, but rather a small business that was able to be created due to what previous small business owners have done and fought for in America. I'm able to recognize both Big & Small businesses can have benefits economically to America and it's citizens. In conclusion, I side with the majority of what Atkinson shared of his opinion on Big Business, while still recognizing how small businesses have benefited myself, in my personal and work-life.