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Countries with much broader safety nets for entrepreneurs are not producing the risky innovative companies that America is. Could this be because countries wit
by suresk 14y ago
Countries with much broader safety nets for entrepreneurs are not producing the risky innovative companies that America is.
Could this be because countries with broader safety nets also have more regulation and make it hard to fire people?
I've always kind of thought a combination of making it easy to hire people and let them go, along with strong safety nets (ie, good unemployment insurance and not having health care tied to employment) would be optimal.
- msrpotus 14y agoI think the Netherlands tried something similar. Not sure if it really worked.
- _delirium 14y agoDenmark has been moving in that direction. Its overall level of safety nets, taxation, infrastructure spending, etc. is much higher than in the U.S. (tax revenues about 2x as high, as a percentage of GDP). But in some ways it's actually more privatized: for example, the bus system in Copenhagen is bid out to private corporations to operate. The government comes up with the fares, set of routes, etc., and then the corporations bid on how much subsidy they'd need to operate under the specified parameters (Movia won the current contract). Whereas, most American transit systems are operated by city or state employees. And: it's fairly easy to fire someone, certainly easier than in most of the rest of Europe. The compensating factor is that the social safety net for the person who gets fired is also quite good, and not just in monetary benefits, but in active assistance to help them find a new job (both through job banks and training/internship programs). Incidentally, that is also outsourced, with a number of private (though subsidized and nonprofit) "a-kasse" social-insurance organizations competing for members. I'm a member of one that specializes in researchers, for example. If I become unemployed, for the first two years I would deal with them, not with the state. That tends to lead to people joining the organizations that they feel will provide the best job-finding assistance. Some element of competition is introduced, since a totally useless a-kasse would (hopefully) see an outflux of members.
- zerostar07 14y agoDenmark has a reputation for being the most flexible job market in northern europe. I wonder if this strategy has payed dividends basedon your experience
- thwarted 14y agoI've always kind of thought a combination of making it easy to hire people and let them go, along with strong safety nets (ie, good unemployment insurance and not having health care tied to employment) would be optimal. Not only optimal, but compatible. If it's easy to get rid of people, then it makes sense to lessen the burden born of being let go. And if there is a strong safety net, then it makes sense to make it easy to get rid of people. One perspective might be that government mandated difficulty in getting rid of people is a form of safety net: it's a safety without being required to be a net (that is, catching people on their way down, since it's designed to not let people fall).
- Evbn 14y agoCould be that countries that aren't America don't have audiences of 300million people with high per capita income and a common language.
- njs12345 14y agoOr even just Silicon Valley really. Is the number of successful startups coming from the rest of the US really that high internationally?