In this Digital Rules column on Forbes.com, Rich Karlgaard argues that the small business sector usually leads the economy out of a recession, but that hasn’t happened this time. He goes on to warn that “a second leg of recession will occur if America’s small-business sector doesn’t expand.” As for the economy as a whole, experts seem divided over whether recent positive news, including stock market gains, are signs of a real recovery or reflect a false optimism that the recession is really ending.

NASDAQ in Times Square, NYC

Here in South Florida, our small-business sector has been especially hard hit by the current recession. We wouldn’t have started Zavee in this market if we didn’t believe that small business would recover … eventually. And while we are aware that South Florida’s recovery is projected to lag the national recovery, we don’t have any better insight than anyone else into when and how quickly that recovery will take place. Karlgaard suggests that small business is sitting on the sidelines mainly because of “lack of expansion capital and fear[] of possible regulatory changes in health care, energy and union membership.” For what it’s worth, when we speak with local merchants we hear more about the lack of capital than we do about health care, cap-and-trade or card check, but that may just reflect a reluctance to “talk politics” with people they don’t know very well.

We end every post on Zavee Thinking by asking for your comments and we certainly want to hear from you on any and all topics we post about. However, we really hope you will let us know in the comments whether you think South Florida’s economy is headed toward recovery or relapse; what role you think small business will play; and what you think of Rich Karlgaard’s analysis.