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American entrepreneurship has been declining for decades. The country that gave us Ford, Apple and the Thigh Master has seen new business formation fall by 50% since the late 1970s, according to the Census Bureau.

Economists and business leaders point to any number of possible reasons for this: Excessive regulations, limited access to capital and market concentration. What they don’t usually think about, though, is the most basic factor of all: entrepreneurial psychology. This drive begins as soon as children start to explore the world. But what happens when they don’t?

What happens when, from birth through post-college “adulting” classes, there’s always a well-meaning parent or professional standing right next to them, coaching, teaching, high-fiving, helping them get a leg up – sometimes literally?

Continue reading at USA Today.

 

Lenore Skenazy is President and Co-Founder of Let Grow. Follow her work @FreeRangeKids.

Clay Routledge, PhD, is the Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute. As a leading expert in existential psychology, his work focuses on helping people reach their full potential and build meaningful lives. Follow his work @clayroutledge and subscribe to his newsletter, Flourishing Fridays.

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