Thomas Friedman: Start-Ups, Not Bailouts

High-IQ risk taking does not just come from the school system or immigration. It also comes from the freedom to fail. Increasing the safety net and taking the edge off failure will help people step out on the tightrope.

What Friedman should be asking is as technology commoditizes, what other high-growth areas can the US be competitive in?Apart from some narrow niche (OS and productivity software, chip design), it seems the US is content with shifting certain types of hardware design and fabrication to foreign nations, while enjoying the role of brand marketing. Cost is usually cited as reasons. I think the question should be: what other growth areas remain and how can they be exploited by these risk-takers?

I liked the idea that if an immigrant create a company that gainfully employes 5-10 people, they get a green card.<p>That would get more entrepreneurial immigrants come and stay in the US.

He's not the first to make this claim and I question whether it is so clear cut. For instance, it seems very likely that some of those 40 million jobs created by start-ups had an effect on established business. Either through competition for growth or even competition for existing market space.

Immigration and education? It could be years before those things have an effect on the job market.<p>Why not ask people who want to start startups, or are currently starting them what would make it easier to get going quickly?<p>Personally, I would start hiring tomorrow if it wouldn't cost me any money or part of my business. Perhaps a program that helps startups by paying the wages for the first 3 or so employees for up to a year? That would certainly kick start my business, probably many, many, others.

I'm going to controversial and ask : if successful entrepreneurs are relentleslly resourceful, shouldn't they be able to find a way around the immigration laws? Everyone I ever met who wanted to live in a country found a way to make it happen.

There was a painfully high occurrence of "high-I.Q. risk-takers" in this article.

Mr. Friedman adds to his lengthy list of stories in which he lobbies (it has gotten to be numbingly repetitive, Tom) for increased immigration from India and China.