It had previously been noted that the media coverage of the election campaign lacked any discussion about the country’s overarching growth problem and how we can create jobs out there in the Danish business sector. In the final days of campaigning this came a bit more into focus. Most people can see perfectly well that it doesn’t make much sense that we just discuss how to share the cake, instead of focusing on how the societal cake can be made bigger.

Growth from the bottom
Finans.dk and TV2 News were among those that sought to get top business people to enter into the dialogue, with good results. Jyllands-Posten talked to Peder Holk Nielsen, the head of Novozymes, and his key message is completely in line with what Økonomist Ugebrev has been saying for the past few years: better development opportunities for the undergrowth of SMEs. This is where the secret growth and job creation has to come from.

TV2 News had four more business people for a panel debate (at the same time as the party leader debate on DR) – among them Malou Aamund and Henrik Heideby. They called for visions of how we can create a more dynamic business community, and they also highlighted that there should be focus on the lower rungs of the business sector.

Helping the small
However, their own visions and suggestions about what should be done were scarce, apart from the same old story about regulatory simplification and lowering the top tax rate.

But the bottom line is that politicians might now have understood that the next growth package shouldn’t just benefit the big business interests with, for example, tax breaks. That means absolutely nothing to small companies.
So let’s hope that next time the government needs inspiration, Dansk Industri and Dansk Erhverv don’t just speak up for their big members’ interests.