The driver of the old economy from the twentieth century was the auto industry. The old saying was that if General Motors sneezes, the rest of the economy caught a cold.
The driver of the economy in this century has been entrepreneurs. From the sounds of the latest survey from the Kauffman Foundation and the OECD, entrepreneurs seem to have caught swine flu, so the rest of the economy is probably about to go on life support.
In all 23 countries and regions surveyed, firm formation declined and exits increased. This should be viewed as a leading indicator of job creation -- or should I say the lack of it -- as 75-80% of all new jobs came from small business over the past twenty years. The only parts of the world that show even a glimmer of hope are Eastern European countries and Brazil, where they have seen higher rates of firm births and growth. These are parts of the world that began to restructure to foster entrepreneurial activity even before the downturn. However, these regions have also seen an increase in firm closures.
The U.S. (also the U.K. and to a lesser extent Spain) observed a decrease in firm entries already in 2007, when most other countries were still reporting a steady rise.
The driver of the economy in this century has been entrepreneurs. From the sounds of the latest survey from the Kauffman Foundation and the OECD, entrepreneurs seem to have caught swine flu, so the rest of the economy is probably about to go on life support.
In all 23 countries and regions surveyed, firm formation declined and exits increased. This should be viewed as a leading indicator of job creation -- or should I say the lack of it -- as 75-80% of all new jobs came from small business over the past twenty years. The only parts of the world that show even a glimmer of hope are Eastern European countries and Brazil, where they have seen higher rates of firm births and growth. These are parts of the world that began to restructure to foster entrepreneurial activity even before the downturn. However, these regions have also seen an increase in firm closures.
The U.S. (also the U.K. and to a lesser extent Spain) observed a decrease in firm entries already in 2007, when most other countries were still reporting a steady rise.
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