We have another hero of American Capitalism this week! Fred Smith, the founder and CEO of FedEx, is retiring after nearly 50 years of building a great American company. Under Smith’s leadership, FedEx started with a handful of small business jets in 1973 and grew to over 560,000 employees in 220 countries operating 689 planes and a fleet of over 200,000 motor vehicles.
During the pandemic, it is not hyperbole to say that FedEx helped save the world and literally kept business operating. Mr. Smith noted in a Wall Street Journal article that the heroic workers of FedEx kept “people supplied at home and the healthcare and industrial supply chains open.”
Like other successful entrepreneurs who understand how the real world works, Smith speaks some refreshing truths in the midst of bizarre presidential politics. “Had we passed the Build Back Better bill that Biden wanted…. we’d have 25% inflation rather than 9%,” Smith stated. Further, he believes that the Left’s new modern monetary theory, which holds that federal spending doesn’t need to be restrained by revenue, is “insane.” You can’t, “print money without regard to the fundamental law of economics.”
While far too many in our Nation’s Capitol want socialism to advance a state-directed economy, Smith correctly preaches that we must have a market-driven economy. Instead of blaming inflation on America’s great companies, our political leaders should trumpet the success of great entrepreneurs and leaders like Fred Smith who create opportunity and prosperity for Americans and freedom-loving people around the world.