More Government Subsidies for Fat Cats

Almost all of us have seen or sat in a La-Z Boy armchair, that classic icon of home-grown American manufacturing. Not all of us know, however, that La-Z Boy remains such a familiar name today because of the manipulation of market forces.

Case in point: La-Z-Boy receives $3 million in anti-dumping duties. The bailouts aren't new—the Byrd Amendment was signed in 2000. In the last 3 years, La-Z Boy has received $18.2 million in anti-dumping duties.

Another less known fact is that small businesses account for around 80% of American jobs. La-Z Boy is not one of those small companies.

Obviously, it would be impossible to distribute $3 million to every single domestic producer or retailer in the nation. The anti-dumping duties are also designed to protect American manufacturing and not retailers. And yet it is retailers who account for a massive percentage not only of the job market, but also of the furniture market share.

I am not proposing to protect only American furniture, nor to shield small businesses from only Chinese dumping, but also from larger American corporations and their lobbies—this isn't about the traditional divide-and-conquer politics that leave the have-not's squabbling over table scraps cast aside by the fat cats. What I am proposing is simply this: organization.

There are plenty of antique furniture and art associations out there but most of them are geared towards marketing and not political action. But the fact is that small businesses could and should oppose larger producers and retailers with their own lobbying. But we haven't gathered under a cohesive umbrella term like "American made", that veritable bald excuse for oligopoly. Our labor is just as American as La-Z Boy's, and if the closing of hundreds of small businesses around the country doesn't say something about how the market is affecting us, I would say we could use the money more than large corporations like La-Z Boy who have had lobbyists in Washington for years.

But we do have an umbrella term: small business. And there is no reason why we shouldn't use it to level the playing field. Of course, the Byrd Amendment was repealed 2 years ago, but the damage is already done.

What could our hypothetical organization—the National Antiques & Small Business Association (NASBA)—do with $18.2 million? National. Ad. Campaign. Our products are green, they maintain their value, and (what can I say) they're better. In the world of furniture, it is almost always the case that Old > New (excepting of course our brilliant line of reproductions). But until small antique dealers and designers band together for political action, we'll have to suffer the oligopoly and continue to purvey that fine product that continues to elude the mass manufacturers of today: fine taste.

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