Today in Congress Op-Eds Enter your Email Address to be informed of updates to our site. The private sector is the economic engine of American society. It produces the jobs, markets, financial and intellectual exchanges that enable the conversion of raw commodities and ideas into useful, value-added products and services that meet individual needs. While the private sector is much maligned by voices in the public sector and persistently targeted by the journalistic world, polling conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University and The Washington Post shows even large businesses enjoy a slightly higher favorable rating than Congress or the news media.
Small business is even more popular according to other surveys.
Unlike the other two sectors, public and social, the private sector operates under an exceedingly harsh system of accountability. Businesses that deliver value-added products or services can, if properly staffed and managed, make a profit and remain in business for another day's competition. Those that do not, cease to exist. In recent years, most job creation has occurred among smaller businesses with women entrepreneurs being responsible for a disproportionate share of that increase. Manufacturing in the U.S. has changed significantly.