Letters

Readers react to Jerry Useem's "Churn, Baby, Churn," featured in this year's State of Small Business issue (May 1997). The article weighed the importance of turbulence in a fast-growth economy.

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One man's job creation is another's downsizing, or so readers wrote in reaction to stories in this year's State of Small Business issue (May 1997). Below readers respond to observations about the turbulence endemic to a fast-growth economy.

Turbulence Rules

One reader was delighted that turbulence played a prominent role in Jerry Useem's " Churn, Baby, Churn," which considers the importance of economic upheaval in a robust economic expansion.

Just as I was contemplating letting my Inc. subscription expire, along comes the article "Churn, Baby, Churn." We need more articles that challenge the narrative economists out there. We need people to understand that many of today's models fail to take into account the dynamics of the "new" economy. Long live entrepreneurs! As anyone from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business will tell you, "Get out of the market's way!" I hope the warning is well received by our misguided politicians.

James M. Adams
Candidate for M.B.A., 1998
University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business

Another reader bought the argument but thought that it didn't go far enough:

You sneer at protectionist policy in your piece without distinguishing that the choice is not bilateral protectionism versus free trade. Protectionist policies that foster vigorous domestic competition are healthy, while protectionist policies that promote domestic monopoly are the worst possible choice. The entrepreneurial new economy will be best served by policies that promote domestic competition.

Jim Ayres
Owner-operator
AJL Resources
Littleton, Colo.

Still another, caught in the turbulence, was less sanguine:

I read Jerry Useem's critique of the New York Times magazine's coverage about downsizing companies. My background is a B.S.E.E. degree, stints with Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Western Digital, and Rockwell, and time in the sales-rep business. Over the past two years, I have sent off more than 200 résumés and have received fewer than 10 replies. Remember, there's an army of midlevel managers in their fifties who have worked in the high-tech industries for their entire careers and cannot get a job with nearly the earning potential they used to have.

Luther Lewis
President
Luther Lewis & Associates
Rutherfordton, N.C.

Survival prescription

Many readers felt the pain of pharmacist Doug Meredith (" The Years of Living Dangerously," State of Small Business), who was forced to compete with Wal-Mart and Kmart in the same year and survived years of industry consolidation. One reader wrote:

I empathized with the trials and tribulations Mr. Meredith's pharmacy business experienced on its quarter-century path; he may not have rest, but perhaps he has personal satisfaction. Writer Edward O. Welles's dignified dispelling of the notion that small-business ownership is purely a glamorous and romantic endeavor was what was most valuable about the story. The message is one that many who venture into the minefield of small-business entrepreneurship would do well to consider.

Joseph C. Reisinger
Partner
Reisinger & McAuley
San Rafael, Calif.

Please address all correspondence to Inc. Letters Editor, 38 Commercial Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, or call our editorial-commentary line at 800-238-1756. (Messages will be recorded.) Or E-mail your letter to editors@inc.com or fax it to 800-335-3348. Include your name, address, and phone number for verification. Letters must be signed, and all correspondence may be edited for space and style. For help with subscription problems, call 800-234-0999.