One year ago, we were young, aspiring capitalists. Now, we are young, anxious capitalists, thanks in large part to the present economic climate.
Expert economists have assured us that the housing markets have hit bottom and are in the midst of rebound, all major banks have issued financial statements written in black ink, even the news media has picked up on the story. Yet unemployment remains low, and we remain apprehensive.
Let me ease your mind. Now is the best time to be preparing to enter the workforce as an aspiring capitalist.
History has shown that economic growth tends to occur in cycles, in a “boom-bust” fashion. This business cycle is characterized by rapid economic growth, followed by a contraction, the liquidation of new investments made by growing companies after monetary expansion ceases. The climate after a bust is one of increased competition.
You can experience this competition when you conduct a thorough job search only to find yourself under-utilized as an employee, if you have found any work at all. However, this increased competition also translates to the dissolution of inefficiently run, and just plain bad companies, freeing misused capital and assets.
The change in economic environment leads to increased emphasis on innovation, and the dissolution of inadequate organizations creates space for new healthy companies, even new markets, to develop.
This is the definition of an environment of opportunity.
For those who have big dreams, the hierarchical organization of businesses is driven by politics just as much as it is by efficiency. Individuals who establish themselves early in companies are more likely to rise to its upper echelon. For those who have more modest ambitions, the value of innovation allows for upward mobility for those with new ideas, and more freedom of creativity for engineers, researchers, etc.
For those more progress-oriented, the most important aspect of this new economic environment is the development of the new bubble itself. Rapid economic growth does not occur randomly, it generally centers around a new market that develops, creating demand for goods previously unimagined by the general populace.
There are many clues from which one can infer where this new bubble will arise. The change in political administration has brought with it a change in attitude toward stem-cell research, opening the door for investment in biotechnology for medicinal purposes. But more importantly, the new administration is in the midst of butting heads with the pharmaceutical industry, which holds a vice-like grip on the economic sphere of medicine, and would surely oppose competition in the form of a biomedical industry.
It seems that the most innovation is occurring in the vein of biotechnology, founded on the development of our understanding of biological systems in the late 20th century, which have a larger reach than simply the biomedical. Ideas in this field range from ACell’s wound care powder, populated by a special on Oprah, which has the power to regrow fingers, to the integration of spinach cells into solar cells for increased efficiency for energy conversion.
Although these research projects have not yet become a commodity, it seems that if you want to get in early, find a promising biotechnology company.