About this episode
* The NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism in the month of December, so this is post the election of Donald Trump * Shot up from 98.4 in November to 105.8 * This is the highest level in 12 years - since before Obama was President * And it's the biggest monthly jump in 37 years * You have to go all the way back to 1980, the election of Ronald Regan to find a moment in time where you saw this big an increase in optimism, in confidence among small business owners * Remember, it was Michelle Obama not too long ago * Saying, "This is horrible, there's no hope anymore in America!" * Well, small business owners haven't been this hopeful since I was in high school * Why are they so optimistic? * Well, first of all, it's more a testimony to how horrible things have been over the last 8 years * People are just hopeful that now there's going to be some relief, that Barack Obama is gone * Because the lat 8 years have been very, very difficult for small businesses * First of all, if you're running a small business, you can't take advantage of zero percent interest rates * You can't just show up at the discount window and borrow from the Fed * Also, you can't sell bonds into the bond market, like big corporations can * If you're a small business, and you need credit, you've got to go to a bank and get a loan * But the banks don't have any money - there's no savings - nobody's putting money into the bank * And no banker wants to carry a risky loan on his books * When he can just own U.S. Treasuries * The regulators are all over you, if you actually make a loan to a business * So businesses haven't gotten capital * Meanwhile the cost of doing business has gone up because there's been all sorts of regulations that have been added to the burden of business * Over the lat 8 years Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy