Kevin Carmichael: Canada needs to unleash its entrepreneurs to fix its productivity crisis
Resilient economies require a “critical mass” of entrepreneurs willing to subject themselves to severe personal stress, and possible failure, writes Kevin Carmichael. Without them, a free-market economy “might as well be a command-and-control one.” Yes, businesses constantly go out of business, but they are usually replaced by new ones, making economies dynamic, which is called “creative destruction.” However, data is suggesting that Canada has lost its “entrepreneurial verve.” The amount of businesses that entered the economy each month in 2024 was the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic. Carmichael suggests that AI, which allows workers to create wealth without a team, and a rise in consultants and gig workers, who make most of their income freelancing on digital platforms, may be turning the entrepreneurial path unattractive, especially when companies are plagued by regulatory structures.
