Here's The TED Presentation About Rich People That TED Doesn't Want You To See

The National Journal reports today that TED is refusing to publish a recent talk from megarich venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, which argued that rich people actually don't create jobs, and that cutting their taxes is harmful to the middle class.

Obviously, Hanauer's position is anathema to most of his fellow billionaires. Although his talk was well-received, TED officials eventually decided that it was too "politically controversial" to post the presentation on the TED website.



In an email to Business Insider this afternoon, Hanauer said that he accepts TED's right not to post his presentation, but that he disagrees with their reasoning:

"I got a sensational reaction to the talk at the conference itself, including a big standing ovation. Even the people who I spoke to who disagreed were intrigued and moved by the eco-systemic argument," Hanauer said in the email. "And many of the talks at the conference and on the TED website are similarly controversial.  That's what makes them interesting."

He added: "Further, if it was too political, why have me do it in the first place?  They knew months in advance what I would speak about and I gave the talk word for word. My arguments threaten an economic orthodoxy and political structure that many powerful people have a huge stake in defending. They will not go easily."

Hanauer also passed along the slides he used for his presentation, which was based off of his new book with Eric Liu, The Gardens of Democracy, A New American Vision of Citizenship, Economics and the Role of Government.

According to Hanauer, believing that rich people create jobs is like believing in the geocentric universe

Hanauer presents the real universe: Rich people don't create jobs, and the sun is the center of the universe

CONSUMERS are job creators

Rich people don't want to create jobs

Rich people thinking they create jobs is "like squirrels taking credit for evolution"

The bulk of the gains in the economy have gone to the super-rich

If boosting millionaires helped create jobs, then you wouldn't expect to see a contradiction here

The tax rates on "job creators" have been falling

Wages have been stagnant but costs have shot up

Household income hasn't come close to matching the overall economy

(We're not sure what this one means)

The real job creators: The middle class