Robert Lighten News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Development firm with a small venture capitalist firm. robert, i want to start with you since it comes out of you. there's been so much talk, you guys put a report out a year ago saying small business is the engine that drives the economy and now one year later you're coming out and saying small businesses aren't even hiring. what does that mean for the economy? >> so actually what our previous report said is that it's not just any small business, it's really new businesses. those are under five years old that have been responsible for the -- for virtually all new jobs since 1980 but we took a...

Present "your business" on msnbc. hi there, everyone. i'm jj ramberg. welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. the government and congress continue to try and get a handle on the nation's economic problems while main street america including small businesses struggle with the effects of high unemployment. there is a lot of talk out of capitol hill about small businesses being job creator. but a new report by the kaufman foundation show they are opening with fewer employees and aren't hiring once they get going. robert lighten is the vice presid...

And then took a dramatic dip during the recession and really hasn't yet recovered. >> robert, is this a function of -- how big a part of this is a function of firms failing or firms not having the capital to grow versus technology? >> that's a good question. all we can do is make guesses. the fact it started falling before the recession may mean it was a canary in the coal mine so to speak telling us the economy would slow down, but i think once the recession hit, it's difficult that the capital has to be affecting firms. it may not affect firms doing business on the internet. they can go to t...