Enterprise     
What About It?     

   Did you read our two-part summary of Argentina's recent history? When enterprise was free, the country was wealthy; when government enriched itself, people suffered. 

   Enterprise is an undertaking that is especially difficult, complicated or risky. People engage in daring action; it takes initiative, so says our dictionary.  

   It is a systematic purposeful activity, especially a business organization. Agriculture is an economic enterprise. So too, applying other resources to produce products and services. 

   Enterprise requires an energetic spirit and readiness to undertake or experiment. Many fail and try again. 

   I worked 20 years in a large corporation, and saw the ebb and flow of success and decline, the reality of competition. And I worked 8 more years for that company at a U.S. Government location.  

   Women with diamonds: Did enterprise or government provide them? You men and your tools: same question. 

   We know that enterprises sometimes violate laws, and sometimes management fails to deliver. We hear that a few corporations pay no federal income taxes. And we know that tax laws written by politicians who receive campaign donations allow that to happen.

   Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google & You Tube), Microsoft and Facebook combined earned $55.2 billion in the 4th quarter 2019. That paid for a lot of wages.

   Enterprising people - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos etc. - have created new products and markets. Politicians take their wealth from enterprise, and prosperity is within reach for the rest of us.    

   Political acrimony doesn't produce anything, but we need government to keep entrepreneurs honest. Argentina, the old Soviet Union and other notable countries clearly warn us not to focus on slicing the pie when we can make more pies. There are struggling people in every country. No government can solve that 100 percent.   

      Jimmy