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America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

economist.com

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Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#41

Post by repeekad »

tripleee wrote: post #28

How does any of this article have anything to do with America specifically? Getting off the ground with a small business in America stinks in a lot of ways. Taxes are high and health insurance is really expensive when you have to cover it yourself.

On the contrary, if you don't expect to need a doctor you can get really cheap coverage, just with a really high deductible. I only pay $100/month for $1 million in coverage, but my deductible is $20k so I pay out of pocket for all health expenses, but am covered during a major emergency (over $1 million I have bigger problems to worry about than paying off medical debt..)

Normal health insurance like employer provided (or universal healthcare) is the healthy paying for the sick, which while altruistic is what's actually expensive.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#42

Post by bad_haircut72 »

slashdave wrote: post #37
helterskelter wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ie, a junk economy. None of this produces value, if anything it's parasitic.

In a simple way, money = value. If someone is "paying", there is demand.

Is this what Adam Smith had in mind? Say I pay Facebook $10000 to generate demand for $12000 worth of funny slogan tshirts sales, is that overall an efficient use of our resources?

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#43

Post by JumpCrisscross »

computably wrote: post #40
nomel wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good thing. If the economy was driven by essentials, it would mean we were in a VERY VERY bad place. Luckily, our economy is mostly based on luxury items, by world standards.

Luxury for luxury's sake only covers the opposite extreme of essentials. Innovation often involves non-essentials, considered luxuries early on, and sometimes becoming so ubiquitous that they become new essentials, for better or worse. Cars, AC, phones, computers, internet, smartphones... There's nothing intrinsically wrong with producing entertainment, internet communities, or branded merch. But I don't think it's t…

> Luxury for luxury's sake

At least in my circles, the Instagram gadgets are one part junk, one part failed execution and half genuinely-clever niche objects and services. A silly kitchen tool I low-key love is a domestially-made all-steel tofu press. A friend found it on Instagram.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#44

Post by lazyasciiart »

repeekad wrote: post #41
tripleee wrote: post #28

How does any of this article have anything to do with America specifically? Getting off the ground with a small business in America stinks in a lot of ways. Taxes are high and health insurance is really expensive when you have to cover it yourself.

On the contrary, if you don't expect to need a doctor you can get really cheap coverage, just with a really high deductible. I only pay $100/month for $1 million in coverage, but my deductible is $20k so I pay out of pocket for all health expenses, but am covered during a major emergency (over $1 million I have bigger problems to worry about than paying off medical debt..) Normal health insurance like employer provid…

What you have is not considered health insurance so much as disaster insurance.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#45

Post by cyanydeez »

gruez wrote: post #4

>Full-time self-employment rose to its highest level this century in 2025, reaching 16.8m, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, a trade group. A common refrain is that all the "entrepreneurs" are just gig economy workers, and I was initially skeptical of this too, but it does seem to check out. The top industries with aren't related to gig economy or truckers, in fact that industry shrunk . htt…

same way republicans champion small business owners and theyre just talking about contractors and nonW2 workers who are often illegally forced into tax advoidance schemes as a contractor requires reasonable independance. uber drivers are a good example.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#47

Post by tripleee »

honeycrispy wrote: post #20
readread wrote: post #17

Wrong. For that, we’d need universal healthcare.

Isn't it strange. We don't, and yet they all still flock here.

And by "they all" you're referring to the majority of whom come from third world countries? Sure, you're a step up from that.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#48

Post by paxys »

sigilsack wrote: post #13
firasd wrote: post #3

Seems like Instagram (and TikTok) are a big part of the story here. A lot of these 'buy my hat with a funny slogan' or 'buy my lotion' stores on Shopify, Etsy etc are highly dependent on direct-response ads / performance marketing so their fates are tied to these social media platforms

[dead]

Drop shipping is the new MLM.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#49

Post by paxys »

nomel wrote: post #16
helterskelter wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ie, a junk economy. None of this produces value, if anything it's parasitic.

This is a good thing. If the economy was driven by essentials, it would mean we were in a VERY VERY bad place. Luckily, our economy is mostly based on luxury items, by world standards.

The "luxury items" economy is junk made for $3 in a chinese factory and drop shipped to someone who paid $55 after clicking on an AI-generated Instagram ad.

Re: America has become an entrepreneur's paradise

#50

Post by nirvdrum »

repeekad wrote: post #41
tripleee wrote: post #28

How does any of this article have anything to do with America specifically? Getting off the ground with a small business in America stinks in a lot of ways. Taxes are high and health insurance is really expensive when you have to cover it yourself.

On the contrary, if you don't expect to need a doctor you can get really cheap coverage, just with a really high deductible. I only pay $100/month for $1 million in coverage, but my deductible is $20k so I pay out of pocket for all health expenses, but am covered during a major emergency (over $1 million I have bigger problems to worry about than paying off medical debt..) Normal health insurance like employer provid…

I bootstrapped two companies in my 20s. While living off savings to get going, $20k in medical would have been the end of that venture. I'm glad it's working out for you. I don't have hard data, but I suspect being so healthy you don't need a doctor favors younger adults without dependents. And being able to afford up to $20k without losing your business implies a certain amount of wealth before getting started. That matches the profile of most tech founders I know -- certainly all of the ones that bootstrap. I only managed to make it work because for the first one I was on my parents' health insurance and for the second I had COBRA and a funded HSA.

If we want to encourage people to start new businesses, some form of universal healthcare would be a massive catalyst. Starting a business is never going to be risk-free, but there's a big difference between risking your retirement or even your house and risking the health of your child.

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