-: We did a study last year
where we looked at S&P 500 over a decade.
The 10-Ks that they had filed
and which risks they identified,
and we looked for trends in them.
And the answer is that most of the risks
in the S&P 500 filings are pretty static, except one.
One risk is up 27% in a decade,
and it's public policy risk.
Which means, in a way,
that businesses are more afraid
of their governments than anything else.
So if you think about capital,
and it goes where it's welcome and where it's wanted
and where things are stable,
this uncertainty that governments are producing
is terrible for business.
So what we want the most is certainty,
is an effective government that works
and does only what it must do and does it well.
Particularly small businesses are under
so much wage pressure right now,
and they've been able to keep up for a while,
but it's getting harder.
And so what we hear the most from small businesses is,
"We need more workers," right?
There are 2.7 million job openings for every worker.
So if you can't keep up with the wage pressures,
that worker shortage, hits a small business harder, right?
So one, they need workers.
Two, we're just out of the field with a MetLife survey
that said their biggest concern was cybersecurity
and having the resources and knowledge
to protect their own data and their own business.
So it can be really basic in terms
of how do we get the economy going and inflation tamed,
how do we solve the worker shortage problem,
but also how do we give them more tools and resources.
So we have a website called CO
that had 6.7 million uniques last year,
where we try to feed them this information
on how they can protect themselves.
Local chambers can help, local communities can help,
but I think it's really about, you know, shop small,
and see what resources you have or know,
if you're a big company,
that you can share with your small business vendors,
suppliers, and customers.
(bright music outro)