Stupid

Last weekend, I went to a local jewelry store to pick up my Rollex watch. They had fixed it. I had a conversation with one of the jewerly salesmen at the store and I was shocked at how little he knew about economics and business.

He said that the new economic stimulus package was a great bipartisan package that would get the economy going. I said it was all smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t matter whether you spend a dollar or the US government spends it; It is the same dollar. The package is just a political stunt by politicians to make it look like they are doing something about ending the recession we are not in but they say we are.

He said something like, no that I don’t understand. …that I have a lot of money so I don’t understand how much the tax rebate will help people. I said, ” Yes it will help people but it won’t stimulate the economy, again, a dollar spent by individual tax payers or a dollar spent by the US government is still the same dollar. The way to stimulate the economy is to create new wealth. And you create new wealth by cutting taxes so successful businesses and rich people can reinvest their money instead of seeing it taxed away.”

He then told me, again, that I don’t understand. if the my business slows up I just lay off 200 people and have the remaining 300 do all of the work and I make just as much money. I told him that if my business slows up, it means I make less sales, less profits and therefore less money in my pocket. He said, no you just lay off people.

I repeated myself and said if my business slows up that means less sales, less profits, and less money in my pocket. He told me that I don’t understand.

I told him the same things for the third time.

He looked at the ceiling, said, ” Uh,” and walked away

How could anyone be that stupid? How could someone who makes his living selling expensive watches and jewelry to rich people have such a completely wrong concept of how capitalism works? How could he think that if my business slows up I just lay people off and make just as much money? If your business slows up, it slows up! What part of that didn’t he understand?