You've lost that entrepreneurial feeling

We need more jobs!

Unemployment is high and the economy is only just about 0% growth. This isn't an inspiring time to be unemployed. Therefore it is the government's job to make jobs, apparently.

For the retarded amongst us that means they should borrow more and then spend it to 'create jobs'. Or as I call it borrow more money to give away. After all if there is a job to be done, surely people will pay for it themselves. If they can't afford it as a person, it is highly unlikely we can afford it as a nation. If people won't pay for it themselves then it is probably because they don't really want it or it costs more than it is worth.

This doesn't always apply of course. We know that the NHS works best because everyone (officially employed) has to pay it. Old and young, rich and poor, fit and unfit. This means we all pay a little rather than some paying a fortune and others paying virtually nothing.

But generally paying public servants is very inefficient, because you can never choose to stop paying them. If my car insurance company is rubbish I can stop paying them and go to another company. If the bus service is rubbish I can stop paying them and take a train. If a public service is rubbish, then I'm stuck paying for rubbish service. There is no pressure on them to slim down when they have too many people because the money rolls in regardless of the service provided.

Anyway, I'm getting distracted. What I wanted to talk about was what I discovered when I was in California a few weeks ago.

We tend to think of the US as the place of big businesses. What we know of the USA is largely based around films, television and the chain stores that make it over here to Great Britain. Many of us go on holiday to the US (if we're blessed with some extra money) but often that is to the East Coast and more specifically; Florida.

But what I didn't realise until recently was for every Starbucks/ McDonald's/Burger King in America there is a Carl's Jr/Chilli's/independent. That is for everyone huge shopping chain that makes it across the pond, there are several smaller mid size or just totally independent restaurants that we in the United Kingdom, have never heard of.

Why is this relevant to anything? I heard you ask. Why did you start talking about the economy and now reach hamburgers? Well you'll be glad to hear I haven't lost track. My point is the reason why the USA has so many huge corporations is partly because it has so many small ones. When you have a decent size base of small companies, statistically some are bound to do really well. This is good for everyone.

But this leads me on to another point, Americans just have a different attitude to starting businesses to us. I think this is for a couple of reasons. first off, British people are far more pessimistic than Americans. I have heard it said that the difference between British people and Americans is that Americans think that they are going to live forever and British people know that they are going to die. I thought it was an exaggeration but American people genuinely do seem to avoid thinking about death at all cost. Which seems a bit odd, since that and tax are the things that are certain for all (perhaps not co-incidentally tax is the other Americans avoid at all cost).

Either way, this incredible optimism combined with a feeling that they are part of a 'pioneering' culture and a belief that anyone can make it if they work hard (potentially with the spur that you keep the money you make and you don't get lots of welfare support) means that people in the US set up businesses a lot.

In contrast we can look at the UK. In the UK we are very skeptical of anyone who says that something can be done, easily, quickly and with huge success. In fact, we are just skeptical. This has good sides to it. We are less moved by emotive speeches by politicians, so we're less likely to elect a 'Hitler' (although this is never impossible). It also means that most of us are less likely to be convinced by advertising which promises to change your life when you by a new mop, or taste a new sweet. Some will, but the majority with roll their eyes and want to slap the person back into reality.


Our heritage too is completely different. British political and economic heritage stretches all the way back to 1066. Almost a thousand years. Here it was established (or should I say confirmed) that those in the establishment lord it over those below, who work hard and are kept at the bottom of the social scale. Today of course, this is not the case, but the culture still comes from that same source. Which is why, you'll notice, that a large part of being rich and successful in Britain isn't just about being rich and successful, but also about entering the establishment.
This is why much more credence is given to established professions in Britain than to almost any other work. There is almost instant respect for Doctors, Barristers, Solicitors and accountants. This is despite the fact that (whether it is known or not I don't know) many managers earn more than all of the preiously mentioned professions. The reason being of course because a profession seems far more 'upper class' than saying I'm a manager, because there is a whiff of the nouveau about it. Like some how you could have reached a managerial position without knowing which cutlery to use in a fine restaurant, and somehow these manners are important.



As a result the British legal system is one of the finest in the world. Many of the worlds largest law firms are based here (Slaughter and May, Freshfields, Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy but to name the obvious). Ernst & Young and Pricewaterhouse Coopers' profits run into tens of billions of pounds, they are enormous organisations unsurprisingly based on professional services such as accountancy.

So there is no doubt that both sides have their benefits. Americans have huge businesses, the British have huge professional practises. But the thing is professional services generally services business.

In this time of recession the one thing we don't have, is enough businesses. The news largely seems to show people complaining that the government isn't providing enough jobs. But the question may be asked, at what point did the government start being responsible for jobs. Now I have to declare at this point that my money comes, indirectly from the government. Not all of it, but most of it comes from central government. So feel free to discard everything I say. But I think it is worth hearing me out.

Why wait for the government to create jobs, when each person has the freedom to create their own. Finding something that people are willing to pay you to do, then doing it has been the basis of income for the free man for years (the exception being the peasant tied to a lord and slaves).

Maybe, we need to take a little bit of our American cousins' attitude to heart and once again stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit.

The wise among us at this point will point out that the US is also down the pan right now. I would agree, but I'd also note that they seem to have developed their own dependence on government a little like us.

No doubt there are things that the government can do to help, reduce paperwork and invest in infrastructure being the main ones. But generally that isn't much else they can do without borrowing more money and essentially just making the matter worse. In reality the economy rests on the shoulders of the people, not the Prime Minister.

PS When I've got £10,000 saved I want to start a business, any other investors?