Two Big Problems Are Plaguing Our Economy, New Small Business Survey Reveals

With pandemic restrictions finally being wound down around the country, the economy should be roaring back to life. But we’ve seen much more muted job growth than expected, and we have a record-breaking 9.3 million unfilled job openings while millions of Americans languish on unemployment welfare. What’s going on?

Article by Brad Polumbo from FEE.

Well, a new small business survey reveals two key problems plaguing our economy.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses regularly surveys the thousands of small businesses whose interests it represents. Released this week, its latest polling offers yet more proof that a labor shortage is restraining economic recovery. A record-high 48 percent of business owners said they had jobs they couldn’t fill.

“The labor shortage is holding back growth for small businesses across the country,” NFIB economist Bill Dunkelberg said. “If small business owners could hire more workers to take care of customers, sales would be higher and getting closer to pre-COVID levels.”

The source of this labor shortage, at least in large part, is the continued availability in dozens of states of unemployment welfare benefits that pay more than working a job.

Per Forbes, the average unemployed person can earn the equivalent of $17/hour staying on the welfare rolls under the current “temporary” expanded pandemic benefits (assuming a 40-hour workweek). Thus, many workers are disincentivized to return to work, even for jobs that pay $15/hour!

That small businesses across the country are experiencing an acute labor shortage should be no surprise given such dysfunctional government policy. But it’s a huge issue for our economy.

Meanwhile, surging price inflation is also a key cause for concern.

In the new survey, small businesses report big increases in their supply costs. As a result, roughly 40 percent said they are increasing their prices—the highest response to this question since 1981. The rising prices are a major concern for business owners, and one reason why their optimism on the near future fell in this month’s survey.

“Inflation on Main Street is rampant and small business owners are uncertain about future business conditions,” Dunkelberg added.

Where’s the inflation coming from? It’s complicated, but here’s the short answer: reckless federal money-printing.

“Nearly one-quarter of the money in circulation has been created since January 2020,” FEE economist Peter Jacobsen recently explained. But printing more money doesn’t mean we actually have more stuff, and “if more dollars chase the exact same goods, prices will rise.”

From a labor shortage to inflation, our economic recovery faces some serious roadblocks. While the federal government may have intended to help along our resurgence, both hurdles can ultimately be traced back to failed policies in Washington, DC.

‘The Purge’ by Big Tech targets conservatives, including us

Just when we thought the Covid-19 lockdowns were ending and our ability to stay afloat was improving, censorship reared its ugly head.

For the last few months, NOQ Report, Conservative Playbook, and the American Conservative Movement have appealed to our readers for assistance in staying afloat through Covid-19 lockdowns. The downturn in the economy has limited our ability to generate proper ad revenue just as our traffic was skyrocketing. We had our first sustained stretch of three months with over a million visitors in November, December, and January, but February saw a dip.

It wasn’t just the shortened month. We expected that. We also expected the continuation of dropping traffic from “woke” Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but it has actually been much worse than anticipated. Our Twitter account was banned. Both of our YouTube accounts were banned. Facebook “fact-checks” everything we post. Spotify canceled us. Medium canceled us. Apple canceled us. Why? Because we believe in the truth prevailing, and that means we will continue to discuss “taboo” topics.

The 2020 presidential election was stolen. You can’t say that on Big Tech platforms without risking cancellation, but we’d rather get cancelled for telling the truth rather than staying around to repeat mainstream media’s lies. They have been covering it up since before the election and they’ve convinced the vast majority of conservative news outlets that they will be harmed if they continue to discuss voter fraud. We refuse to back down. The truth is the truth.

The lies associated with Covid-19 are only slightly more prevalent than the suppression of valid scientific information that runs counter to the prescribed narrative. We should be allowed to ask questions about the vaccines, for example, as there is ample evidence for concern. One does not have to be an “anti-vaxxer” in order to want answers about vaccines that are still considered experimental and that have a track record in a short period of time of having side-effects, including death. One of our stories about the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” causing blood clots was “fact-checked” and removed one day before the government hit the brakes on it. These questions and news items are not allowed on Big Tech which is just another reason we are getting canceled.

There are more topics that they refuse to allow. In turn, we refuse to stop discussing them. This is why we desperately need your help. The best way NOQ, CP, and ACM readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We are pacing to be short by about $3700 per month in order to maintain operations.

The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. We had 5,657,724 sessions on our website from November, 2020, through February, 2021. Our intention is to elevate that to higher levels this year by focusing on a strategy that relies on free speech rather than being beholden to progressive Big Tech companies.

During that four-month stretch, Twitter and Facebook accounted for about 20% of our traffic. We are actively working on operating as if that traffic is zero, replacing it with platforms that operate more freely such as Gab, Parler, and others. While we were never as dependent on Big Tech as most conservative sites, we’d like to be completely free from them. That doesn’t mean we will block them, but we refuse to be beholden to companies that absolutely despise us simply because of our political ideology.

We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.

As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.

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