2016-1015 | The Economist-054

知识 Duh 第263期 2016-10-17 创建 播放:46

介绍: Government and entrepreneurship: More slowdown than startup
Fears for the future of one of the economy’s most successful sectors
From The Economist 20161015

Audio:

0:00




ONE of the proudest boasts of David Cameron’s government was that it had turned Britain into one of the world’s most entrepreneuri...

介绍: Government and entrepreneurship: More slowdown than startup
Fears for the future of one of the economy’s most successful sectors
From The Economist 20161015

Audio:

0:00




ONE of the proudest boasts of David Cameron’s government was that it had turned Britain into one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries. In the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, an international index of startup activity, Britain is ahead of Europe’s other large economies, although still lagging America. Last year a record 608,110 businesses were born in “Startup Britain”, as the Cameroons liked to call it, about 27,000 more than the previous year. Moreover, an increasing proportion of these were set up by what managementologists call “opportunity entrepreneurs”: those who bring innovative products and services to the market, rather than setting up a firm simply because they have lost their job.

Yet some businessfolk now fear that Theresa May’s new government could let this progress stall. Lord Young of Graffham, a former trade minister under Margaret Thatcher, laments: “This is the first government since Mrs Thatcher came into office that doesn’t feature enterprise, startups and small businesses” among its priorities.

Lord Young was brought back into Downing Street by Mr Cameron to boost business formation. He and other Cameroons argue that the advance in startup rates was partly a consequence of their policies to remove regulations and help people, for instance, to set up businesses at home. However, most of the people who worked on this have left government and the evidence so far suggests that Mrs May is less interested in entrepreneurship than concerns she has brought from her previous department, the Home Office, such as keeping the immigration figures down.

Alarm bells were ringing among the Cameroons at the announcement by the new home secretary, Amber Rudd, at last week’s Tory party conference that businesses would have to declare the proportion of foreign workers among their staff, as a means of shaming them into taking on more British ones. Rohan Silva, a former adviser to Mr Cameron and the brains behind Tech City, a government initiative to encourage the digital economy in east London, describes the government’s new tone as “absolutely terrifying”. The tech sector relies heavily on overseas talent; one in five directors of tech companies is a foreign citizen. The government faced such an outcry that it has already been forced to backtrack on some of its plans. “This would never have seen the light of day under the old regime,” another former Cameron adviser tuts.


Furthermore, says Max Chambers, who advised Mr Cameron on immigration, the new government’s change in approach comes at a time when shoring up business confidence should be the priority, given the uncertainty over Brexit. Already there is evidence that the startup rate is slowing. According to one survey, new business registrations rose by only 1.5% in the 100 days after the referendum on June 23rd, compared with 4% during the same period in 2015.

Worried by the drift in government policy, entrepreneurs are taking the initiative. Emma Jones, head of Enterprise Nation, a lobby group, who used to help Mr Cameron’s advisers on policy, has co-founded a new Small Business Taskforce. Comprised of like-minded outfits such as the Entrepreneurs Network, it will campaign for policies like cutting corporation tax and for guarantees on the long-term residence rights of EU citizens. Another new outfit, Open Britain (run by Ms Rudd’s brother, Roland), will campaign for a business-friendly Brexit. Mr Silva supports the idea of “city visas”, championed by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, whereby control of immigration would be devolved to the regions. The fightback has begun.


Copyright © 2015-2016 Share2China.com | Powered by Flask and MongoDB

更多节目 全部>

网易云音乐多端下载

同步歌单,随时畅听好音乐

  • 音乐开放平台
  • 云村交易所
  • X StudioAI歌手
  • 用户认证
  • AI 免费写歌
  • 云推歌
  • 赞赏

廉正举报 不良信息举报邮箱: 51jubao@service.netease.com

互联网宗教信息服务许可证:浙(2022)0000120 增值电信业务经营许可证:浙B2-20150198 粤B2-20090191-18  浙ICP备15006616号-4  工业和信息化部备案管理系统网站

网易公司版权所有©1997-2025杭州乐读科技有限公司运营:浙网文[2024] 0900-042号 浙公网安备 33010802013307号 算法服务公示信息