Is Small Business Optimism UP? or DOWN?
There is a strange phenomenon going on right now. Some studies are indicating that small business optimism is DOWN.
Other studies are showing small business optimism as INCREASING, as the National Federation of Independent Business business optimism index increased 2.9 points in August.
How odd. Some thoughts on reasons for this discrepancy:
1. The pollsters are asking different people, different companies.
2. There is a general lack of agreement about what a “small business” is. Some companies claim to be small businesses to get federal assistance, when they are really large.
3. That was August; this is September. We may have to wait a month to see if the current financial debacle among investment banks makes a difference.