This sort of economic handwaving makes a lot of assumptions. Silicon Valley isn't in Europe for a lot of reasons, American engineers being the driving force be

This sort of economic handwaving makes a lot of assumptions. Silicon Valley isn't in Europe for a lot of reasons, American engineers being the driving force behind it notwithstanding. We have such a strong small business unit because (a) a lot of our economy has always been driven by small business (that "American ingenuity" people always talk about and (b) U.S. laws are very friendly to the small business. And since when does our government really get involved with "financing private ventures"? Banks aren't paying out for insurance (and will probably pay slightly less under this reform), and most VC's will have to pay about 2% more in tax. So maybe 5-10 useless web startups a year won't happen, but I don't think it's going to slow down small businesses at all. Many of the people I know who would start one or join an existing one can't because of health insurance.