Goat to Meeting

A recent Planet Money episode starts off with a goat joining the show’s internal Monday video conference call. Talk about a podcast that doesn’t kid around. In a time where it would be easy to chicken out and not deliver high-quality content, the show ponied up to produce a story on the small businesses adapting to the coronavirus.

The cute cameo came from a farm specializing in corporate retreats. Instead of lying fallow, the farm changed its business model and plowed ahead in these uncertain times.

It is abundantly clear: a global pandemic will soil the American economy for months and years (and decades?) to come. This is most worrying for the small businesses that bring home the bacon (in the form of employment) for 50% of Americans and account for over 40% of GDP.

And yet, it remains to be seen how many larger firms are pigging out on the enacted stimulus packages. Multiple news reports list larger firms hogging funds and milking the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for all its worth. The Treasury Department is trying to corral this bad behavior. Good.

The adaptability of small businesses will sow the seeds of change for the American economy. These firms won’t survive if public companies crowd out the trough of government support meant to sustain small firms not fatten behemoths.

Although this might be a baaahhdd way to describe it, the American Dream is the GOAT because of small business ingenuity. These businesses are essential for finding greener pastures.