Venture Capitalist Nick Hanauer @TEDTalks on Income Inequality, Jobs and Taxes

Venture Capitalist Nick Hanauer explains the economic ecosystem and how income inequality is hurting our economy in this presentation at TED.  Here’s an excerpt from the video…

“I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a “circle of life” like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this sense, an ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than a capitalist like me.

So when businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it’s a little like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around.”

hat tip to FiredogLake