An Entrepreneurial Fix for the US Economy

We’re borrowing the title from the authors, who originally published it in the Wall Street Journal on August 29th, and based their articles from the Kauffman Institure. We might have wider circulation than either entity, so we’re reblogging the central ideas, with a few more thown in. We hope someone with legislative pull reads the blog and gets some legislation going. Here are the ideas:
1. Let immigrant entrepreneurs in who hire American workers (actually, we understand there is a entrepreneurial visa, but the capital requirement starts at $1 million, so it should be reduced to something like $50,000.
2. Reducing the cost of capital through early stage tax credits for investments in business. We think elimination of taxes on business startups would take this idea even further, and might stimulate hiring or reduce unemployment.
3. Allow tax free investment of 401 k accounts in any sort of new business, but there needs to be some sort of caution about where the proceeds are invested. Of course, we’d like them to take our early stage courses, which would set them right, but maybe a requirement to log in with the government SBA (like a parolee officer) would be a good idea. Entrepreneurs do need to be saved from themselves at times.
4. Reducing barriers to IPOs by allowing shareholders to opt out of Sarbanes Oxley, and management, too. The act is a costly impediment to business formation. Although, most small businesses never get to the IPO point.
5. Charging higher fees for expedited patent approval. The Patent Office actually makes money for the government; there is currently a backlog of 1.2 million patents. Let’s hire some more examiners and get rid of the backlog.
6. Give licensing freedom to academic entrepreneuers, to accelerate commercialization of their ideas. We didn’t know this was an impediment; we know our two big Arizona universities both have special departments to help academic entrepreneurs along.
So, there you have it. If the blogospher has any other ideas, pass them along, because we can get things done through the National Federation of Indeprendent Business.