There’s a commonality between this month’s youth unemployment numbers and the Forbes “400 Wealthiest” list: Young Americans aren’t living the American dream, whether that’s getting a job or striking it fabulously wealthy with a novel innovation.
The Generation Opportunity Millennial jobs report shows that 14.9 percent of young Americans are unemployed, including those who have given up looking for work. On the other hand, only 11 out of 400 of the wealthiest people in the country are under the age of 40.
How are these related? Government intervention is stifling the innovation and entrepreneurship necessary for our generation to get a job or start the next Facebook.
It’s great to see the 30 year-old Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and household name, on the list with a net worth of $34 billion (ranking him 11th). Perhaps even more exciting is 30 year-old Elizabeth Holmes, founder of blood testing company Theranos, a company that’s saving lives at a lower cost.
While we look to these young people as leaders in their fields, the question remains: How do we get more young people on the path to achieving success in America, whether that’s starting a new multi-billion dollar company or just getting a job to get out of mom and dad’s basement?
As a nation we can make starting businesses, pursuing creative ideas, and disrupting the status quo more attainable. The easiest way to turn young people’s dreams into reality: Get clueless policymakers out of the way.
In the craft brewing industry, regulations like the antiquated three-tier distribution system require start-up breweries to sell their beer through a distributor. The system filters profits to the middle men who just happen to be politically-connected, big-beer companies. If government stepped out of the way to make room for young brewers to distribute their products as they pleased, the marketplace could expand, create jobs, and deliver better beer.
When it comes to tech start-ups, the government is equally as effective at protecting entrenched interests and big companies, leaving young people unemployed and unable to turn their dreams into a reality. Lawmakers are currently trying to tax the Internet which would force online start-ups to comply with almost 10,000 different tax jurisdictions.
Established companies are privy to lawyers and accountants; start-ups, with limited capital, are unable to afford such services and as a result expose themselves to audits and unforeseen compliance costs. If the government kept its meddling hands out of the Internet, young businesses could get started more easily and innovation would be able to take hold.
Regulations on craft breweries and taxes on the Internet are just two specific examples of how government—at both federal and state levels—is getting in the way of my generation. On a larger scale, Washington has racked up a national debt totaling more than $17 trillion dollars. The average young person’s lifetime share of that debt is nearly $800,000. We can’t afford to pay this off when 14.9 percent of us are unemployed.
Millennials, as evidenced by the 11 of us on Forbes’s list, are incredibly driven and creative. We’re working every day to improve technology, the food industry, health care, and even the beer industry to make the world a better place. The government needs to change its approach. If policymakers scale back, we can contribute more to this economy, and maybe more of us can break through to the Forbes flossy list.
