I attended a conference this weekend in Wilmington, DE where the participants were policy makers from the White House, professors from Yale, MIT, USC Chicago, Georgetown and Harvard, business executives, labor union leaders, foundation executives and organizational leaders such as Ben Jealous the President of the NAACP. The focus of the meeting was on unemployment, particularly the problem of persistent high unemployment among Blacks. I was asked by the organizers of the meeting to write a paper on the problem, which I did, and will share as soon as I get the organizer's permission. However, I will tell you that my paper focused on having policy makers set a goal of unemployment rate parity. Currently, Black unemployment rates are almost double the unemployment of White workers. Interestingly, higher Black unemployment rates are a reality regardless of educational attainment or experience. Bringing about equal opportunities, as difficult as that can be, is far easier than bringing about equal outcomes. But the goal should be to eliminate the unemployment rate gap. In my paper, I note that there are different reasons for the gap, and these different causes of higher Black unemployment require different solutions. One solution that is near and dear to my heart is the role that minority business development plays on minority employment. In 2007, according to the MBDA, there were 1.9 million Black businesses. Amazingly, only 100,000 of these Black businesses had paid employees other than the owner. So even though we have a very long way to go to develop Black businesses, in the very least entrepreneurship is providing 1.8 million Black entrepreneurs with some income. This income often supplements wage income and the income of others within Black households. If we can successfully grow Black businesses, we can also help close the Unemployment Rate Gap. I believe this should be a national goal. Closing the URG will not be easy to accomplish, but neither was providing health care and income for elderly. Closing the URG requires leadership from all sectors of our society, corporations, government and the non-profit sector. The question is: Do we have that leadership? I think we do.
Dr. Fred
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They say politics is the art of compromise. Last week Congress and the President and the American people avoided the fiscal cliff by agreeing to some changes in the tax code that will impact every worker and every business. Below is a short list of readings on the impact of the new tax bill on your business. It might be time to speak with your tax advisor.
