The Entrepreneurial Mind

For many years I have been the optimist. The enthusiasm that I experienced in my daily interactions with entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs was contagious. The data that was showing a shift to an entrepreneurial economy gave me so much hope for the future.

However, I have gotten a lot of questions lately about what caused the change from my formerly rosy outlook to what more than a few of you have termed my new personality of "Professor Doom."

I believe that things have gotten seriously off track. Why? My immediate concern is that the inflation genie is out of the bottle. As a result, I believe that we will have at least a few years of difficult times ahead of us. Once inflation takes root, as I believe it now has, there are no quick and easy solutions.

On top of these short-term worries, I have several growing concerns rooted in more macro, fundamental changes
occurring in our society, culture and economy.

First, we never seized the opportunity to create a true shift in our tax policy in this country. We know that lower taxes and a simple tax system help entrepreneurial economies grow. Our tax policy in the US is rooted in the mid-1900s. The role of taxes are to raise the funding needed to provide for the basic constitutional functions of government. But over the past 60 to 70 years taxes have become a major tool used to shape culture and implement social policies. More recently taxes have become a mechanism to direct economic behavior in directions decided upon by politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government. We now see this at work in the entrepreneurial economy.

Second, for several decades entrepreneurship was growing below the radar in our economy. But as entrepreneurship became more dominant in our economy, politicians and their minions just could not keep their hands off. It grew and prospered so well when they left it alone. But now they are convinced that entrepreneurs cannot possibly do their work without support from governmental agencies bloated with career bureaucrats who have never had to make a payroll. We are quickly headed toward a policy of socialized entrepreneurship.

Third, there are efforts around the globe that seek to change the current economic order. Some of these are economic forces that want to replace the US role as economic leader. If they could achieve this through the power of free markets I would say congratulations and job well done. But many are using noble issues such as environmentalism and social justice as smoke screens to hide their true intentions, which include gaining economic advantage or even crippling capitalism. Those countries that control much of our supply of oil manipulate us like a dealer controls a junkie. They use the power of supply and demand as a means of keeping us dependent.

Lastly, our drift toward socialism over the past several decades has changed our culture from one based on self-reliance to one based on entitlement and dependence. Given the momentum created by the policies of the past few Presidents, and given the platforms of the current two candidates, the growth of government's role in our lives will continue expand. Sustaining our entrepreneurial culture will become increasingly difficult if this trend is not reversed.

I am optimistic that we can turn things around. I just hope we have the wisdom and collective resolve to do so.