Stop Propping Up Small Business

Politicians and pundits of every stripe argue that we can solve a host of problems, from creating jobs to boosting productivity to unleashing innovation, with hefty doses of the same miracle cure: aid to small business. But, as ITIF President Rob Atkinson and Michael Lind write for the Wall Street Journal, this alleged miracle cure is really snake oil. That is because, compared to large firms, small firms pay lower wages and provide fewer benefits, injure and lay off their workers more frequently, spend less to protect the environment, are less productive and less innovative, and create a smaller share of net new jobs. Showering privileges on firms because of their size is bad economics and bad policy.