I wrote a short post last week on a study that looks at entrepreneurship among women in the UK that reinforces the importance of culture in supporting an entrepreneurial economy. Arnold Kling has written a compelling essay that explores the role of entrepreneurship in American culture. He starts with a discussion of a thesis from Carl Schramm's new book, The Entrepreneurial Imperative (which I highly recommend):
Carl Schramm's thesis is that entrepreneurialism is as important to American culture as it is to our economic vibrancy. By the same token, in order to live in a congenial world, it is as important for the U.S. to export entrepreneurialism as it is to export democracy.Compared to the United States, other developed countries, particularly in Continental Europe, put up more regulatory impediments to entrepreneurs, particularly the important subset of entrepreneurs that I will define below as change agents. In underdeveloped countries, regulatory impediments are compounded by crime and corruption, creating an environment even less conducive to entrepreneurship.
His concern is the socialized approach to entrepreneurship that so dominates much of Europe, and for that matter China. He concludes that we need to begin to look to new allies in the world such as India, Israel, and Singapore. His conclusion, with which I strongly agree, is that:
...if our goal is to have more countries that look like America, then having them adopt a democratic political system may not be necessary and will certainly not be sufficient. Instead, our primary focus should be on fostering an entrepreneurial economic system.
Read Arnold Kling's essay and Carl Schramm's book. This is a time of transition in the world economy, and we need to be vigilent if we hope to support free market, entrepreneurial economies around the globe.
(Thanks to our Entrepreneur in Residence, Dennis Disney, for passing this along).
