These stories, from July 6th through 15th, are a Reader’s Digest version of what’s been going on in the world of entrepreneurship.
- President Obama spoke about entrepreneurship and creating one’s own opportunities during his speech in Ghana on Saturday. The main theme of the speech was that Africa’s future is up to Africans and that the US would partner with sub-Saharan Africa to promote sustainable development. In particular, President Obama spoke about developing a skilled work force and creating space for small and medium-sized businesses to create jobs. (Full text)
- Entrepreneurs won a key tax case versus the IRS. The decision in Garnett v. Commissioner could have major benefits for entrepreneurs. It would allow investors to deduct losses against salary and investment income. Right now, investors can usually only deduct losses in a business against future profits from that business, which can prevent taxpayers from getting to use the deductions at all. The ruling applies to LLCs and LLPs. The IRS believes the losses should be considered passive. Passive losses can’t be deducted against other income, such as salaries, capital gains, or dividends, and instead often pile up until the particular business that generates them starts to turn a profit or is sold. (WSJ)
- Failure rates among entrepreneurial ventures appear to remain constant, regardless of recessions. According to US Census data, it appears as if (1) half (48.8%) of the businesses started in the US won’t live past the five-year mark and (2) starting a business in a recession won’t affect your business’ odds of survival. (New York Times)
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved its healthcare reform bill on Wednesday. It was approved on a party-line vote of 13-10. The bill requires businesses with 25 employees or more to offer health insurance or pay $750 a year per full-time worker to the federal government. House Democrats also introduced their healthcare reform bill on Tuesday. Republicans and some business groups contend that many small businesses would be adversely affected by the bill’s surcharge, while Democrats argue that they’d actually benefit because the insurance exchange and market reforms would make coverage more affordable. (Business Review)
- ‘Entrepreneur’ may be a French word, but entrepreneurship is lagging in France. There are both economic and cultural reasons behind this phenomenon: Venture capital investment in Europe runs at a third of the rate that it does in the US. Additionally, while American entrepreneurs are often lauded as heroes embracing the American Dream, French entrepreneurs aren’t respected as much — they’re expected to work for large, well-established companies. However, France’s minister of state for the digital economy says things are slowly changing. The government has been promoting entrepreneurship to tackle the cultural issues and giving tax deductions for investing in start-ups to tackle the lack of capital. (Forbes)
Photo courtesy of roy_mac_an_iarla
