Some Advice for Clinton

To spur investment and help the economy grow out of its problems, President-elect Clinton has called for a new investment tax credit to encourage purchases of machinery, computers and capital equipment.

But Muriel (Mickey) Siebert, owner of discount brokerage Siebert & Co. and one of Wall Street’s best-known women entrepreneurs, believes that Clinton may be missing the boat.

Job growth in America, Siebert points out, has been almost exclusively the domain of small business for the last 10 years. While Fortune 500 industrial companies have shrunk, the number of thriving small companies--especially service firms--has mushroomed.

If Clinton wants to invigorate the economy, Siebert says, he should give incentives to the companies in the best position to create new jobs. That’s small service firms, which don’t buy much machinery but do put people to work.

“Why not (have) tax credits for additional people hired?” asks Siebert, who recently opened a branch of her brokerage in Century City. “I suggest a tax credit equal to 25% of the wages paid every new worker hired over a two-year period.”

Only companies adding new workers--not replacing workers--would qualify, she suggests. Though the credit would cost the government revenue up front, it would be offset by taxes generated by the new hires, Siebert notes.