Page 25 - Aruba Today
P. 25
BUSINESS A25
Monday 11 April 2016
Small Business: Historic Forum: 4 Fed leaders face questions
on their powerful jobs, American Economy
Hello stranger, let’s start a
business together! MARTIN CRUTSINGER and financial market crises ke said. “I didn’t take the
AP Economics Writer of the 1980s and 1990s and, job for adulation.”
JOSEPH PISANI ness together. Kovar does WASHINGTON (AP) — Ja- beginning nearly a decade Volcker’s policy of high in-
AP Business Writer ViralSweep’s program- net Yellen was put on the ago, the worst financial cri- terest rates contributed to
NEW YORK (AP) — Inside ming and web design and spot about whether she sis and recession since the pushing the country into
a crowded New York Massaro handles market- made a mistake in raising Great Depression. two recessions in the early
subway station, Abiodun ing and its clients. interest rates in December. Fareed Zakaria of CNN, 1980s. But he said even with
Johnson tapped Esosa To this day, Massaro and Ben Bernanke was quizzed who moderated the dis- unhappy farmers and home
Ighodaro on the shoulder Kovar have only met in about what it felt like to be cussion, asked how the four builders attacking the cen-
and told her that he liked person twice. They live called a traitor by the gov- felt in a job with “so much tral bank’s policies, the Fed
her outfit. nearly 2,000 miles apart: ernor of Texas. concentrated power” that could not have done what
Ighodaro thanked him, Massaro in Cheshire, Con- Alan Greenspan was asked opened them up to criti- it did without broad sup-
they exchanged names necticut, and Kovar in if he purposely sought to cism when the economy port from the public for the
and phone numbers. Then Austin, Texas. Massaro says confuse Congress with his was not doing well. central bank’s attempts to
six months later, they start- the business relationship is answers. And Paul Volcker Greenspan, who was often deal with a prolonged bout
ed a business together. calmer than a previous was queried about be- accused of trying to dodge stagflation, a toxic combi-
“We were total strangers,” one he had with a brother
says Ighodaro, who along he went into business with. From left, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, and former Federal Reserve chairs Ben Bernanke,
with Johnson co-owns Co- “We butted heads a lot
Sign, an app that lets us- more,” says Massaro. “Ar- Paul Volcker react to remarks by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan (via video
ers add links to Facebook guing was natural. It’s
and Twitter photos to the something we’ve done all conference) as the chairs appear together during a forum in New York.
websites of stores where our lives.”
others can buy the items While some entrepreneurs (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, Pool)
they’re wearing. are meeting at events
Starting a business with and online, many strang- ing hung in effigy after he tough questions at con- nation of high inflation and
someone you barely know ers are connecting seren- pushed interest rates to lev- gressional hearings with big weak economic growth.
may sound strange. But it’s dipitously and deciding to els not seen since the Civil words and incredibly long “People were unhappy
something more people go into business together. War. sentences, did not deny with malaise and inflation
seem to be doing these “Serious entrepreneurs The event was an unprec- employing that tactic. But going up,” Volcker said.
days. are radar detectors for edented gathering of lead- he said, “The real problem “They felt we were doing
And experts say it’s not passion,” says Dr. Shawn ers of the Federal Reserve is that monetary policy is something.”
such an outlandish idea. Clark, an entrepreneurship — past and present — to very largely economic fore- Yellen, who succeeded
In fact, at times, it can be professor at Pennsylvania discuss what it feels like to casting and our ability to Bernanke in February
a better option than going State University’s Smeal hold what is considered the forecast is significantly lim- 2014, was quizzed about
intobusiness with friends or College of Business. “They world’s most powerful eco- ited and we have to keep whether she felt the Fed’s
family since the high stress bond quickly with people nomic policy-making job. the context of what we say rate hike in December, a
of running a business can who share that passion.” The four Fed leaders ap- in the context of what we quarter-point move, had
strain those relationships. Still, some experts caution peared last week at an know.” been a mistake. In Janu-
No one broadly tracks people not to rush in to event to launch a speak- Bernanke said he didn’t ary, the global economy
who entrepreneurs are anything too quickly. er’s program honoring Vol- like it in 2011 when he was slowed and financial mar-
choosing to start business- Dr. Caroline Daniels, an cker at the International called a traitor by Rick Per- kets went into a tailspin trig-
es with. But experts say entrepreneurship lectur- House in New York, a resi- ry, who was then governor gered by falling oil prices
more people are open- er at Babson College in dential dormitory for for- of Texas and a Republican and increased weakness in
ing up to the idea, partly Wellesley, Massachusetts, eign students. Greenspan presidential candidate. But China.
because today’s entre- has seen many entrepre- appeared by video link he said he realized that crit- “I certainly don’t regard it
preneurs have more op- neurs meet at accelera- from Washington. icism came with the job, es- as a mistake,” Yellen said.
portunities to rub elbows tors and other mentor- Together, the tenures of pecially in times when the She said despite the global
with talented, like-minded ship programs that start the four participants cover Fed was trying to pull the weakness, the U.S. econ-
strangers during network- a business and then break more than one-third of the country out of the worst re- omy remains on a solid
ing functions and through up. She warns students to Fed’s 102-year history. Their cession since the 1930s. course. She also disputed
social media. wait at least six months to leadership included the “We had tremendous re- the suggestion that the
Giancarlo Massaro and make sure they are com- double-digit inflation of the sponsibilities to address Fed’s low rates could be
Steve Kovar connected patible before starting a 1970s, the global banking these terrible risks,” Bernan- fueling a bubble economy.
more than a decade ago business together.
on a web forum. They kept “Serendipity works a cer-
in touch online for years tain amount of the time,
and then in 2012, decided but not always,” Dr. Dan-
to go into business togeth- iels says.
er — even though they’d When Ighodaro and John-
never met. son met in a Times Square
They started ViralSweep, subway station, neither
a business that helps com- was looking for a busi-
panies run sweepstakes ness partner. Johnson had
and marketing cam- planned to move to New
paigns on online. Massaro York and wanted to meet
and Kovar say their com- new friends. Ighodaro, he
plimentary skills are what says, looked like someone
drove them to do busi- “cool to know.”
