About half of all new establishments survive five years or more and about one-third survive 10 years or more. As one would expect, the probability of survival i

About half of all new establishments survive five years or more and about one-third survive 10 years or more. As one would expect, the probability of survival increases with a firm’s age. Survival rates have changed little over time. - Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BED Small business loans are inherently risky and an 80% rejection rate accurately reflects that risk. How would creating a bigger market for bad/risky loans help the situation in any way? Sure, it might boost employment/wages temporarily, but in the end a majority of small businesses fail and enter bankruptcy. They bring their loans to bankruptcy court where they are renegotiated, leading to a haircut for the banks, less liquidity, and a waste of time/money/effort that could have been better spent elsewhere. Remember, bad loans in the mortgage market caused the great recession. Higher loan standards are a good thing - and a necessary outcome of the 2008 fiasco of irresponsible/non performing debt getting pushed off bank balance sheets to the fed and ultimately the public.