Bernie Marcus: Minority Entrepreneurs Often Hit Hardest by Big Government Overreach

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Bernie Marcus, the retired co-founder of the Home Depot and founder of Job Creators Network, explains in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that while entrepreneurship “offers all Americans, no matter their background, a way to achieve financial independence and the American Dream,” big government overreach often disproportionately hurts minority entrepreneurs.

Marcus writes:

Unfortunately, government is moving in the wrong direction, erecting hurdles to entrepreneurship. My company wouldn’t have succeeded if it had started in today’s climate of regulations and taxes that disproportionately burden small businesses. The Home Depot almost went bankrupt several times in its first decade, and today’s policy environment would have tipped us into insolvency—as it does to countless entrepreneurs each year.

The biggest victims of bad government policy aren’t the elite; they will always be able to get into good schools and get their foot in the door of corporate America. The people hurt most by big government are those who lack advantages in becoming economically independent, often minorities.

[…]

Americans should treat minority entrepreneurs with the respect they deserve and consider how bad public policy prevents them from surviving and thriving. A newfound respect for minority entrepreneurs, who have done so much with so little, can provide the societal foundation needed to ensure the next generation of Home Depots. It can lay the groundwork for even more minority entrepreneurship success stories than I’ve seen in my lifetime.

Read the rest here.

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