ASK KEN LANGONE
Ken Langone is always on CNBC claiming he created 300,000 jobs by putting up his big box stores. He fails to mention that Home Depot also put out of business, local small and medium size lumber yards, window companies, paint stores, hardware stores and other small local businesses unfortunate to be in the death zone radius of the big box.
The wreckage did not stop there. Small regional suppliers and manufacturers were also impacted. Those smaller regional companies could not supply the vast needs of a Home Depot. That business went to cut throat larger national and international suppliers that now had an opportunity to muscle into local markets. They in turn fought with each other and outsourced supply to factories and mills in China further causing economic wreckage to American manufacturers, killing American jobs at every step of the process. Some of the "newly created” jobs went to the refugees from the local discontinued businesses. You could see their sad faces in their orange vests rushing from aisle to aisle wondering how they became an “associate” at the big friendly Home Depot.
I would bet 10,000 wood chips that Ken Langone, on net, destroyed more jobs than he created. it makes sense as the magic of the market did it’s magic for him and made the few at the top billions. Some Chinese entrepreneurs made their millions and good old Charlie is down at aisle 14 looking for some galvanized brads.
All that is fine, but spare us the bullshit about how wonderful these massive listed companies are and how they need additional incentives to expand. They have all the natural incentives necessary embedded in each and everyone one of us. It is called greed.
