There is one bit of good news that we can take from history about recessions and even depressions. They tend to be a time of major transformations due to the typically high levels Schumpeterian creative destruction active in the economy.
Consider the following brief list of examples:
- GE was founded during the Great Economic Panic of 1873
- Disney was founded during the Recession of 1923
- The Great Depression saw the founding of both HP and Polaroid
- Trader Joe’s was founded during the 1958 recession
- During the 1975 recession Microsoft was founded
- CNN and MTV both were launched during the 1981 recession
- And in the 2001 recession iPod launched and Google finally got its market footing and emerged from its start-up phase
Innovations like these helped create ripples of new ventures and other innovations that were the major force in reviving the economy.
So why aren’t we finding ways to help spur entrepreneurship in our economy instead of being consumed with bailing out failing businesses and declining industries?