Consider this one:

If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down.

This idea is an article of faith for Republicans and seldom challenged by Democrats

and has indeed shaped much of the economic landscape.

But sometimes the ideas that we are certain are true

are dead wrong.

Consider that for thousands of years, humans believed that the Earth

was the center of the Universe.

It's not. And an astronomer who still believes that it was

would do some pretty terrible astronomy.

Likewise, a policy maker who believes

that the rich are job creators and therefore should not be taxed

will do equally terrible policy.

I have started and helped start dozens of companies

and initially hired lots of people,

but if there was no-one around who could afford to buy what we have to sell,

all those companies and all those jobs would have evaporated.

That's why I can say with confidence that rich people don't create jobs.

Nor do businesses, large or small.

Jobs are a consequence

of a circle of lifelike feedback loop between customers and businesses.

And only consumers can set in motion this virtual cycle of increasing demand and

hiring.

In this sense, an ordinary consumer is more of a job creator than a capitalist like

me.

That's why, when business people take credit for creating jobs,

it's a little bit like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution.

It's actually the other way round.

Anyone who's ever run a business knows

that hiring more people is a course of last resort for capitalists.

This is what we do if, and only if rising consumer demand requires it.

And in this sense, calling ourselves job creators isn't just inaccurate: it's disingenuous.

That's why our existing policies are so upside down.

When the biggest tax exemptions and the lowest tax rates benefit the richest,

all in the name of job creation,

all that happens is that the rich get richer.

Since 1980, the share of income for the top 1% of Americans has more than tripled,

while our effective tax rates have gone down by fifty percent.

If it was true that lower taxes for the rich and

more wealth for the wealthy led to job creation,

today, we would be drowning in jobs. (Laughter) (Applause) Thank you.

And yet, unemployment and underemployment is at record highs.

Another reason that this idea is so wrong-headed

is that there can never be enough super rich people to power a great economy.

Somebody like me makes 100s, or 1000s of times as much as the median American.

But I don't buy 100s or 1000s of times as much stuff.

My family owns three cars, not 3000.

I buy a few pairs of pants and shirts a year like most American men,

occasionally, we go out to eat with friends.

I can't buy enough of anything to make up for the fact

that millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans

can't buy any new cars, any clothes, or enjoy any meals out.

Nor can I make up for the falling consumption of the vast majority of middle-class families

that are barely squeaking by, hurried by spiraling costs,

and trapped by stagnant or declining wages.

Here's an incredible fact:

If the typical American family still retained the same share of income that they did in

1970,

they'd earn like 45,000 dollars more a year.

Imagine what our economy would be like if that were the case.

Significant privileges have come to people like me,

capitalists, for being perceived as job creators at the center of the economic universe,

and the language and metaphors we use

to defend the current economic and social arrangements is telling.

It's a small jump from "job creator" to "the creator". (Laughter) (Applause)

This language obviously wasn't chosen by accident,

and it's only honest to admit that when somebody like me calls themselves a "job creator",

we're not just describing how the economy works,

but more particularly, we're making a claim on status and privileges that we deserve.

Speaking of special privileges,

the extraordinary differential between the 15% tax rate that capitalists pay

on carried interest, dividends, and capital gains,

and the 35% top marginal rate on work that ordinary Americans pay

is kind of hard to justify without a touch of deification.

We've had it backwards for the last 30 years.

Rich people like me don't create jobs.

Jobs are a consequence of an eco-systemic feedback loop between customers and businesses.

And when the middle class thrives, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit.

That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all

is such a fantastic deal for the middle class and the rich.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here's an idea worth spreading:

In a capitalist economy, the true job creators are middle class consumers

and taxing the rich to make investments to make the middle class grow and thrive

is the single shrewdest thing we can do

for the middle class, for the poor, and for the rich.

Thank you.

(Applause)