STREET DOGS

THERE’S absolutely a side-byside role for government and entrepreneurs … government and entrepreneurs each have to fulfil their roles, and their roles have to be very clear.

The first is, it’s much harder for entrepreneurs to survive and thrive in societies without a clear rule of law…. And that’s part of the reason Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, Shanghai and a series of other places have become these hotbed areas. It doesn’t have to be perfect….

The second thing government and entrepreneurs absolutely have to do together is create or bring in an education system that gives people a chance if they’re smart, or if they’re hard-working, or both. The government has to encourage people to become entrepreneurs, to work with entrepreneurs, to grow with entrepreneurs and to attract the best and the brightest into an area and a region.

The third thing a government has to do is create a system of research, basic research, that no entrepreneur and no large business is going to fund today. The basic research in biology, the basic research in physics, the basic research in this, that and the other thing — those should absolutely be strengthened and supported, because that’s the core of creating large new businesses and industries.

What the government should not be doing is to try to be a substitute for entrepreneurs. The government should not compete with entrepreneurs. The government should not impede entrepreneurs. It should not be spending more than it has. It should not be subsidising stuff that has not worked. It should not be trying to keep alive economic corpses….

■ From a Juan Enriquez interview with Addison Wiggin at Daily Reckoning

Michel Pireu — e-mail: pireum@streetdogs.co.za