Washington Is the Problem (Interview With Fred Smith)

Wall Street Journal ^ | OCTOBER 25, 2008 | STEPHEN MOORE

[Entrepreneur]

He has come to hold the get-rich-quick Wall Street financiers in more than a little disdain. He views the heroes of the U.S. economy as the companies that actually produce real goods and services. He sees the Wall Street collapse as an inevitable byproduct of investment bankers building multitrillion dollar debt pyramid structures.

[SNIP]

"We've got to reduce the taxes on equity. Let companies expense their capital purchases."

[SNIP]

"We absolutely have to cut the corporate tax. Our current tax rate is about 38%. Even Germany has a 25% rate."

[SNIP]

"The politicians deplore the fact that we have a disparity of income," he says, but "the only way to make a blue-collar person earn more is to invest in capital, training and infrastructure. So the more you tax capital, the more you hurt workers."

[SNIP]

"We're now at a point where a very large part of the population pays no federal income tax at all. When you have a majority of the population that realizes that you can transfer money from the productive to themselves, that's one of the great questions for the future of civilization, as far as I'm concerned."

[SNIP]

"That's where all wealth comes from . . . It's not from the government. It's from invention and entrepreneurship and innovation. And our policies promote a legal and regulatory system which impedes our ability to grow entrepreneurship. Lastly, if we want to make [America's workers] wealthier we have to quit demonizing quote, big corporations."

[Entrepreneur]

Great article.

[italyconservative]

Smart man! I spent nearly 18 years of my life working for FedEx. Well run company if you ask me. I never had some much freedom to succeed if I wanted to move up the ladder. I just chose not to. He is spot on here. Thanks for posting!

[Sybeck1]

You ought to see the football field at Olive Branch MS I was at last night. Fred Smith astro turfed it when his son played there and it still looks great!

[Glenn]

Fred Smith astro turfed it when his son played there and it still looks great!

Did Sonny get over his drug arrest and go on to play college ball?

[Stayfree]

We decided to set up a new website over this weekend called “The Obama Disaster.com” to highlight all of the reasons why the election of Obama as President is a very, very bad idea!! We need everyone’s help to gather all of the articles and information about the effects upon the stock market, the economy, small businesses, lost jobs, more mortgage defaults, home prices, taxes, your 401(k), mandatory health care, more liberal programs, more government, the Supreme Court, marriage, religious freedom, free speech, less freedom, etc.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See this for the lefties big plans:

Would Obama, Dems Kill 401(k) Plans?

[Coldwater Creek]

Smart doesn’t do Fred justice.

I spent nearly 30 years living literly next door to Fed Ex head quarters.

one of

[Grampa Dave]

Please post the links when you set this up and ping me.

[Grampa Dave]

He/Smith has come to hold the get-rich-quick Wall Street financiers in more than a little disdain. He views the heroes of the U.S. economy as the companies that actually produce real goods and services. He sees the Wall Street collapse as an inevitable byproduct of investment bankers building multitrillion dollar debt pyramid structures.*

So how do we fix this problem and retool our industrial sector in a pro-competitive fashion? “We’ve got to reduce the taxes on equity. Let companies expense their capital purchases.”

We turn to the election. Mr. Smith is one of the most enthusiastic supporters of John McCain among the Fortune 50 CEOs. When I ask why, he says instantly: “Because I agree with him on trade, taxes, energy and health care.”

*Please read my tagline re pseudo businesses controlled by elite liberal facsists:

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This is suppose to be Satire...FR Thread:

Obama Calls Capitalism an “Outdated Ideology”

[FlyVet]

Sure enough, Fred Smith is a fanatical supporter of free trade. So much so that he says, "I think the best thing the United States could do is to unilaterally disarm. It should open up markets.

I liked everything he said except for that one insane statement.

[SierraWasp]

"Washington Is the Problem"

And Sacramento is the mirror image of the problem except it can't print money as well as borrow it to squander!!!

[SierraWasp]

Who is Fred Smith (and John Galt)???

[dalereed]

“And Sacramento is the mirror image of the problem except it can’t print money as well as borrow it to squander!!!”

I hope the voters are smart enough to cancel Arnies CC on 11/4!

[jwalsh07]

"We're now at a point where a very large part of the population pays no federal income tax at all. When you have a majority of the population that realizes that you can transfer money from the productive to themselves, that's one of the great questions for the future of civilization, as far as I'm concerned."

Yes we are Fred and it may be too late to go back.

[jwalsh07]

H e wasn’t talking about the military, he was talking about trade as in subsidies for ethanol and protectionism.

[FlyVet]

I get it, I think. I wish he would have said “I think the best thing the United States could do is to unilaterally disarm by openening up markets” for us more simple-minded folk.

[jwalsh07]

Yeah, I feel the same way. I took it the same way you did at first. Then I said, nah Fred Smith isn’t a moonbat.

[Amerigomag]

Frederick Wallace Smith (born August 11, 1944 in Marks, Mississippi), or Fred Smith, is the founder, chairman, president, and CEO of FedEx, originally known as Federal Express, the first overnight express delivery company in the world, and the largest in the United States. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

John Galt was a character in the Ayn Rand novel....”Atlas Shrugged”