The National Venture Capital Association has released its report on VCs’ impact on the U.S. economy. The report says in 2008, VC-backed companies generated about $3 trillion in revenue and employed about 12 million people in the United States. The report also says VC backed companies have out-performed non-VC-backed companies, and that VCs create whole industries more or less out of thin air.

That all sounds good, but Vivek Wadhwa, a researcher at Harvard, Duke and UC-Berkeley (a hat trick I would have thought to be physically impossible) calls B.S. at TechCrunch, saying the NVCA is trying to justify tax breaks and bailout dough for VCs:

How’d they come up with these numbers? They added up all the revenue generated in 2008 by any company a venture capitalist ever invested a dime in. So if John Doerr bought Bill a lunch in 1985, they’d count Microsoft as part of their empire. Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But seriously, the NVCA numbers aren’t even remotely credible.

At PEHub, Dan Primack issued a 14-word, parenthetical reaction:

(grating veneration of entrepreneurs as immaculate purists, forced to suffer the indignity of investment)

On his Startable blog, former Atlas VC Healy Jones splits the difference and calls Wadhwa thoughtful but takes exception with his claim that VCs “go where they smell blood,” rather than funding innovation. Jones says VCs are looking to duck capital gains taxes, but aren’t looking for a bailout. 

FastIgnite CEO Sim Simeonov calls the NVCA’s claims “outlandish,” but strikes a different chord than Wadwha:

My two cents are that if VCs are guilty of claiming or receiving too much credit when things go well, they certainly get too much blame when things go poorly. And I certainly think it’s foolish to only blame VCs for investing too much money in companies. It takes two to tango.