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Week of October 27 - November 2, 2008 |
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The US Economy: We're Still Number 1? Even with more bad economic news every day, it seems many experts still believe “the fundamentals of the American economy are strong.” The latest edition of the annual Global Competitiveness Report continues to rank the US as the world’s most competitive economy. America’s strong performance is attributed to good fundamentals, especially its impressive support systems for innovation. The World Economic Forum researchers expect that these strong market fundamentals will ease the US’ recovery from current market turmoil and macroeconomic weaknesses. Following the US, the top performers are (in rank order): Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Singapore. Readers may also enjoying reviewing the report’s 2nd chapter which presents a comprehensive review of the factors that contribute to nations’ economic competitiveness. Access the World Economic Forum’s study, The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. |
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The Future of American Capitalism The recent economic crisis and prospect of a global recession has raised many questions about the future of capitalism. Carl Schramm, Robert Litan and William Baumol, the authors of "Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity," addressed the many issues facing the world economy in their recent discussion "Could This Be the End of American Capitalism?" at the US Chamber of Commerce. Taking a critical look at the recent failures in world banking and the growth of markets in Russia and China, the panel focused on the steps needed to restore our economic growth, foster innovation, and sustain our standard of living for future generations. Watch "Could This Be the End of American Capitalism?", part of the US Chamber of Commerce's Books That Drive Debate series (registration required). |
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If you’re looking to identify impressive young entrepreneurs, Inc.’s new list of “30 Under 30” (its top thirty young entrepreneurs) is a good place to start. These entrepreneurs are the vanguard of the nearly 80 million strong “Millennial Generation” that is already shaking up the business world via companies like Facebook and MySpace. Inc’s list includes a plethora of interesting business ideas such as Etsy, a Brooklyn-based website that markets artisan-made clothing and crafts. Other interesting ventures include Meraki, which markets wireless routers in developing countries, and WordPress.org, a non-profit that makes open-source blogging software. Learn more about Inc. Magazine’s “30 under 30” list of top young entrepreneurs, which appears in Inc.’s October 2008 issue. |
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The Case for American Innovation Zones America needs a national strategy that nurtures competitive and innovative regions, according to a new White Paper from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The AURP report makes the case for a national strategy to support Federally-designated American Innovation Zones. These zones would receive special incentives, and other programmatic support, based on their capacity to nurture cutting-edge research, promote technology commercialization, and stimulate new entrepreneurial activity. These incentives could include targeted R&D tax credits, preferences for programs like the Small Business Innovation Research effort, and encouragement to locate federal research facilities in designated zones. In addition to advocating for Innovation Zones, the AURP also supports the expansion of competitive immigration incentives such as the H-1B Visa program. Download the 2008 Association of University Research Parks report, The Power of Place: A National Strategy for Building America’s Communities of Innovation. |
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Looking Ahead for America's Entrepreneurs The current economic downturn suggests that small business owners are going to be facing many challenges in the coming years. A new working paper from Chad Moutray, Chief Economist of the US Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, takes a deeper look at what we might call the “Big 5” of impending small business challenges. His list includes: Strengthening the Overall Economy, Taxes and Regulation, Cost and Availability of Health Insurance, Attracting and Retaining a Quality Workforce, and Global Competition. That’s a big agenda and big set of challenges. However, the report also offers some signs of hope that could emerge thanks to renewed investments in technology and innovation, support for innovative regional “economic gardening” strategies, and through entrepreneurial ventures started by new immigrants and minority populations. Download the October 2008 US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Working Paper, “Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Owners,” by Chad Moutray. |
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A new Washington Post investigative report shows that at least $5 billion of small business set-aside contracts have been provided to not-so-small firms such as Lockheed, Dell, and Northrop-Grumman. Post reporters examined $89 billion worth of contracts designated as small business set-asides by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and found 207 contracts for Lockheed (totaling $143 million), and $89 million of such contracts for Dell. For the past several years, the Federal government has set a goal whereby twenty-three percent of Federal contracts are awarded to small firms. Given these errors, it should come as no surprise that last week the SBA announced that Federal agencies had not achieved their small business contracting goals this year. Total 2007 small business contracting dropped to twenty-two percent of all Federal contracts. The article, "Agencies Counted Big Firms as Small," by Carol D. Leonnig, appeared in the October 22, 2008 edition of The Washington Post. |
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Sullivan Steps Down at SBA Office of Advocacy After seven years of leading the SBA Office of Advocacy, Thomas Sullivan concluded his tenure as Chief Counsel last week. Under Sullivan's leadership, the Office of Advocacy -- the "small business watchdog" of the government -- cut out over $65 billion of federal business regulation and convinced twenty-two state legislatures to follow suit. In a recent interview with U.S. News & World Report, Sullivan encouraged small business owners to get active in associations and other ways to strengthen the voice of small business, "Without small-business input, I can guarantee that government will make the wrong decisions." Read the interview, "The State of Small Buisness in an Election Year" from U.S. News & World Report. |
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The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. |
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National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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stories © 2008 The Public Forum Institute
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