While I certainly salute and support entrepreneurs striking out on their own and trying to build their own businesses, it's not a path that everyone is suited to — nor are everyone's parents in any position to simply "loan" $20K to bankroll such an effort (even if they chose to ignore the stats on how many start-up businesses fail).
Yes, Mitt, it's nice that your family had money to burn, and that you were able to become a big honcho at Bain Capital (and buy up, strip down, and sell off businesses that young entrepreneurs had put together), but don't mistake your press bio as universal advice for kids starting out.
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I don't want to run my own business. And my parents have no money to lend.
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Romney’s Business Advice To The Young: Borrow Money From Your Parents And Start A Business
It’s that simple!
At a “lecture” for students at Otterbein University in Ohio today, Mitt Romney told students that, his friend, Jimmy John, started a business by borrowing $20,000 from his parents at a low interest rate. Romney suggested anyone in the audience could do the same:
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As Krugman so pointedly notes, it's not just a recommendation to "borrow money from your folks to start a business" (so much for their retirement nest egg), but a recommendation that young folks just need to "get an education."
Of course, Romney has nothing to say about reduction in state funding for state colleges, nor about the Paul Ryan plans to slash Pell grants and other federal assistance. Young folks should just "get an education" some place cheap and, um, educational.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/opinion/krugman-wasting-our-minds.html