As an entrepreneur as well as a PhD student in the field of entrepreneurship, in thinking about the decisions made by politicians during the recent economic crisis to help the economy recover, I started thinking about the role that entrepreneurs play.
Entrepreneurs are the ones that are implementing change through their innovative ideas. But these people alone cannot be held responsible for creating the next steps in societal evolution. There are many varied factors that influence entrepreneurship, ranging from economic and political to socio-cultural ones. Therefore, when discussing entrepreneurs as the agents of change, it is at least as important to discuss the environment in which they want to, or have to, create these changes. Which are the changes that have to happen on a political level to fosters entrepreneurship and promote entrepreneurially-minded people in their endeavors?
This essay constitutes a critical reflection on this issue in the context of the current economic crisis by looking at decisions made by policymakers to partially re-establish the status quo ante, bridging to the importance of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs as the driving motors for economic, technological and social change. To sum up, an explanation is given for why policymakers should put more emphasis on the entrepreneurs and not so much on the economic giants, and tangible suggestions are made for future policy incentives.
