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Canada, Social Safety Net and Entrepreneurship


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I was listening to a podcast by Dr. Jordan Peterson interviewing Dr. Martin Daly (podcast #17).  I was introduced to Dr. Peterson by FDR’s several podcasts.  I find him to be an immense thinker.  However, this interview kind of put a chink in the armor.  The topic is how economic inequality encourages violence in young men because of status competition.  Usually his interviews are mostly trenchant with fairly nuanced discussions but this discussion did not strike me as any attempt out of the echo chamber.  Admittedly as a layman, I still found the arguments to be underdeveloped.  One comment that Dr. Peterson made that stood out for me was that because of a “sufficient” social safety net (welfare), Canada’s entrepreneurship is growing faster than in America because Canadians have a bit of financial breathing room to quit a job and open a new business.  Is there any evidence of this?  Also, how trustworthy/valid is the GINI coefficient?  Any Canadians out there willing to chime in ?

 

I am a big proponent of Facts over Feelings - if anyone has any data for, or against, such a statement it would be greatly appreciated.  To the surprise of no one, I am not a fan of social safety nets of any kind, but I am curious as to the validity of Dr. Peterson’s claim.  Any comments/facts/data would be appreciated.

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3 hours ago, lithtin said:

 One comment that Dr. Peterson made that stood out for me was that because of a “sufficient” social safety net (welfare), Canada’s entrepreneurship is growing faster than in America because Canadians have a bit of financial breathing room to quit a job and open a new business. 

That's a logically consistent statement. It does benefit the individual who is looking to become an entrepreneur to not have to worry about something like healthcare when making the transition. That doesn't mean that universal healthcare is a good idea on the societal level.

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12 hours ago, Dylan Lawrence Moore said:

That's a logically consistent statement. It does benefit the individual who is looking to become an entrepreneur to not have to worry about something like healthcare when making the transition. That doesn't mean that universal healthcare is a good idea on the societal level.

+ 1

Great posts. Our government is changing laws which is putting entrepreneurs in a rape choke. fortunately, due to our healthcare system, there is a bit of breathing room in ways there are not any in other environments. 

Peterson is beginning to go outside his realm of expertise so, at some point, there will be a learning curve. You can be a jack of all trades AND a master of none. I've gained more from Peterson in the past couple of years then I ever did in a decade + of government education. 

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3 hours ago, Jsbrads said:

Getting twice as many entrepreneurs, by spending three times as much money isn’t a benefit.

Government spending misallocates resources. 

Out of curiosity, is there any hard data to support your statement?  I'd presume you're probably right, but I like to back up my arguments with data.

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