Keating’s CyberColumn

by Raymond J. Keating – If you think that government raising costs, limiting investment and innovation, and doling out more subsidies will somehow reduce inflation, then you should like the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” that just passed the U.S. Senate. But if you believe this, that also would mean that a complete review of […]

by Raymond J. Keating – High energy costs are hitting consumers and small businesses hard. Unfortunately, rather than working in a productive manner to help alleviate these problems, President Biden and his administration actually are proceeding with a policy agenda that takes a bad situation and makes it even worse – now and in the […]

Not only were digital economy sectors insulated from declines in other areas of the economy, but in key ways, the digital sectors – that is, entrepreneurs, small businesses and the much-maligned “Big Tech” in vital technology sectors – served as lifelines to other industries, to other entrepreneurs and workers, and to consumers. by Raymond J. […]

by Raymond J. Keating –   The U.S. economy continues to get battered. A pandemic struck in March and April 2020, with its effects lingering to this day. The economy took a nosedive, and has struggled to recover. And amidst this struggle, entrepreneurs, businesses, investors and workers have been thrashed by raging inflation, a decline […]

Bad Policy Fuels the Likelihood   81% of small business owners expect a recession to occur this year, according to the latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Index Q2 2022 (May 5, 2022). by Raymond J. Keating –   With the change in real GDP turning negative in the first quarter of this year, a question inevitably keeps […]

by Raymond J. Keating – During this National Small Business Week, elected officials and policymakers must also celebrate the drivers of entrepreneurship and small business growth this week, and that includes “big tech.” Big Tech Started as Small Tech It should be noted that the companies usually targeted by politicians and their appointees – i.e., […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The first estimate of GDP (i.e., gross domestic product) was released and it was not good.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP growth in the first quarter came in at -1.4 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate). But there were a few bright spots. The report of […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest Pitchbook-NVCA report on venture capital served up some good news. Specifically, venture capital investment in 2021 nearly doubled from where it was in 2020. Venture capital investment, after growing by 13.3 percent in 2020, jumped by 98 percent in 2021 – from $144.5 billion in 2019 to $166.6 […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed robust job growth in March, as well as welcome levels of self-employed entrepreneurship. While nonfarm payroll employment expanded by a strong 431,000 in March, there’s more. When looking at the data from the household survey – which better […]

by Raymond J. Keating – Private sector technology and innovation have made real differences in terms of helping entrepreneurs start up new businesses during the pandemic. That’s right. To use the political vernacular of the day, “Big Tech” has been important to startup entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, big government, which has had “Big Tech” in its regulatory […]