Tuesday, June 28, 2005

It’s the Entrepreneurs, Stupid

“A dearth of entrepreneurs explains the economic mess in Europe,” is Rich Karlgaard’s opening line in this week’s column (http://www.forbes.com/business/global/2005/0704/075.html). He goes onto say in the column, “Consumption will never lift a country’s growth rate. Only new production—the work of entrepreneurs—will do that.”

Karlgaard is my favorite columnist and wrote the wonderful book Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness. He has a wonderful feel for both how technology is shaping America and why small towns (he calls them the booming boonyacks) offer so many advantages for entrepreneurial development.

Karlgaard’s nine points for entrepreneurial development that you should read in his column are:

1. Taxes must be reasonable.

2. Trade and labor markets must be free.

3. Regulations must be light.

4. The rule of law must be understood and enforced.

5. Entrepreneurs come in all types.

6. Immigration must be encouraged.

7. Waste and inefficiency must be accepted.

8. Honest failure must be tolerated.

9. Social mobility must be applauded.

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