To Do: Transform the SBA Into the New Business Administration (NBA)
Recommendation
Congress should transform the Small Business Administration (SBA) into the New Business Administration (NBA).
Details
On a host of issues, from productivity to wages and benefits, environmental protection, and exports, large and medium-sized companies outperform small businesses. Even on job creation, it is new, fast-growing firms that perform better, not small firms. So, while it makes sense for government to help start-ups get off the ground in the hope that they will become big and successful, it makes little sense for government to continue assisting corner cafes and pizza parlors in perpetuity. Accordingly, Congress should transform the Small Business Administration (SBA) into the New Business Administration (NBA). Among other things, this would mean targeting SBA loan programs toward high-growth start-ups and shifting SBA assistance programs to startups. The mission of the SBA’s Office of Advocacy should be altered so that it focuses on eliminating or improving those regulations that act as barriers to high-growth start-up companies.
Keep reading:
▪ Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, “Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business” (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2018), 265, https://itif.org/publications/2018/04/06/big-beautiful-debunking-myth-small-business/.
