That concerns Bruce Meyer, an economist with Northwestern University and the National Bureau of Economic Research. I think it's a problem, because this is another example of where blacks are doing less well economically. The self-employed are often the most successful in the economy. Self-employment is often a root out of poverty. Small business owners tend to have more political clout than other people.
Many experts say discrimination plays some role here.
A recent Federal Reserve study found that black applicants for small business financing are denied credit twice as often as whites with similar credit worthiness. Barry says it started with his wife, Janet, who first pushed him to go into business. She has an interesting background, and perhaps that's the reason she could see the entrepreneurship skills in my personality. Back in the 1930s and '40s in Detroit, Janet says her family owned a hardware store and a dry-cleaning shop. OK, I'll take the lead.