A new proposal that may provide an interesting new twist on a standard economic development practice, the Rural and Small Town Telework Tax Credit Act of 2009 (H.R. 3627), was introduced by freshman Congressman Thomas Periello (D-VA) late last month. The bill does pretty much just what it says in its refreshingly straightforward title. It [...]

Oversight hearings, which fell out of fashion during most of the Bush Administration, came roaring back when Democrats took over Congress in 2006. In fact, there were those who thought said Democrats would use said oversight hearings to exact their revenge against Republicans for nameless partisan crimes and misdemeanors. That didn’t happen, of course. Mr. [...]

The White House is crowing about data indicating that the economy is no longer lying on its back with its legs waving and twitching in the air — and sounding remarkably like the previous Administration while they do it. Whether you want to buy the theory that Obama Administration policies have had a significant and [...]

At the risk of upsetting some people terribly, it sometimes seems difficult to tell one politician from another. It would be difficult to imagine two members of that calling who could be more different from each other than George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama. But President Bush, touting the efficacy of his economic policies [...]

Late last year, the MicroEnterprise Journal reported on new research that seemed to indicate a looming housing crisis that could render hundreds of thousands of microbusiness owners homeless and their businesses dust and ashes in the near future. (See “Second Wave of Foreclosures Threatens Micros” in the December 1, 2025 issue of the Microbusiness News [...]

How much do downturns really matter to small businesses? During the 2001-2003 recession, the number of microbusinesses increased by an impressive 8.7%, climbing from 21.1 million to 22.9 million. The number of employer firms increased by 3% over the period and employment at those firms grew by 2.5% during the recession years. According to these [...]

It is always interesting to see how much time and energy (not to mention money) members of Congress will expend on a tiny minority of firms, large or small. At a time when capital markets remain more or less frozen and it is probably worth looking at every source of capital that may be available [...]

Earlier this month, the SBA Office of Advocacy released the latest in its regular series of quarterly small business indicators, covering the fourth quarter of 2008, and it was an attractive report if you happen to be fond of the color red. There was relatively little good news to be teased out of all the [...]

President Obama’s stimulus package, or a reasonable facsimile that may or may not bear much resemblance to it in its original form, is wending its way through Congress right now. The House passed its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act late last month. The Senate version, which is expected to be ready for [...]

Walking into a new year, you probably don’t need me to tell you that the economy seems to be a mess. The third quarter of 2008 market the initial contraction in GDP for this recession but something tells me it won’t be the last. Consumer confidence is down again and small and microbusiness owners are [...]