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Upstart Business Journal
"New economy,"
entrepreneurs surface in Obama, Romney debate
by J. Jennings Moss , Editor
October 17, 2012
Finally, those of us in the entrepreneurial ecosystem got to hear the
presidential contenders talk about job creation in a truly 21st century
context during their second presidential debate Tuesday night.
The only problem is, neither President Barack Obama nor former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney went far enough in their second
debate to move the ball forward on issues of new business development
and U.S. economic growth. They’re both stuck in a late 20th century
mindset, one that pits supply side thinking against class-conscious
economics. They both fail to take full advantage of the seductive power
of talking about entrepreneurship.
You could see it in the very first question during the town hall-style
format at Hofstra University from 20-year-old Jeremy Epstein, who
expressed concern about finding a job upon gradation and wondered what
the two men could do to assure him and his parents that he’d be able to
support himself after college.
Both Obama and Romney used the question as a way to sympathize with
those in Generation Y who are getting out of school and facing daunting
employment prospects. And while they used Epstein’s question as a way
to talk about the broad outlines of their economic plans—and for Romney
to remind voters about persistently high levels of unemployment during
Obama’s presidency—both men missed a golden opportunity to go beyond
standard talking points.
Obama especially lost out here. He could have talked about the
countless number of new businesses being started by Epstein’s
counterparts in college dorm rooms around the country, a trend we’ve
tracked with the help of the Young Entrepreneur Council and Empact. The
president could have discussed his administration’s role in the
creation of the Startup America initiative, and ways the government, in
concert with the private sector, can encourage and foster
entrepreneurial enterprises…
Read the rest of the article at Upstart Business Journal
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