The Myth of the Self Made Millionaire

[Minor Axis]

The Self Made Myth at Market Watch. This is an interesting article of which I agree with the premise.

"Pro-business economic policies and tax policies are often centered on the myth of the self-made man," the report says. But the myth of "self-made" wealth "is potentially destructive to the very infrastructure that enables wealth creation."
Individuals profiled believe that they prospered in large part thanks to things beyond their individual control, such as social investments in education, research, technology and infrastructure, the report says. Or as Jim Sherblom, former CFO of Genzyme, says, "We are all standing on the shoulders of those who came before us."

 

[Alien Allen]

The idea that if government would get out of the way, then every entrepreneur would automatically succeed is wrong, the report says.

That about says it all as far as credibility in the story. When you go by this premise to start with the rest is likely nothing more than biased bull shit. So I did not read any further.

 

[Accountable]

The report is published by Boston-based United for a Fair Economy, a nonprofit group that researches and raises awareness on issues related to wealth and power. It has signed more than 2,200 multimillionaires and billionaires to a petition to reform and keep the inheritance tax; the "I Didn't Do It Alone" report was gleaned from small sample of those petitioners.

So they talked to everybody, so long as they were already multimillionaires and supported the premise of the study.

I've never heard anyone ever seriously say that if government would get out of the way, then every entrepreneur would automatically succeed. Success is never automatic; likewise, government interference is not a requirement of success, either.