Home » Posts tagged "Entrepreneurship"

Tag Archives: Entrepreneurship

Coming soon: Bank of Dave – watch my interview with Dave Fishwick


On 1 February, I caught up with Dave Fishwick, star of Channel 4’s fantastic series Bank of Dave: Convinced that he can do a better job than the high street banks, Dave Fishwick sets up his own small bank and endeavours to make it profitable – in just 180 days Episodes are here. In this interview, you can learn how Burnley Savings and Loans is making progress towards becoming a proper bank by the end of the year, while preserving […]

Tags: , , , , , , ,

New measures to support entrepreneurs and job creation


Post Image

As the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index repeatedly shows, entrepreneurship and opportunity are the primary keys to overall prosperity. It is because life in society is a creative dynamic process of discovering how best to serve the needs of other people and to adjust to them. If we are to become the most prosperous nation within a generation, we will need to liberate that spirit of innovation, service and commerce which has always served our country so well. I was therefore delighted […]

Tags: , , , , , , ,

What makes us prosperous? The 2013 Prosperity Index supplies a survey


Post Image

This morning, after spotting Allister Heath’s boldly optimistic article for the Telegraph, I chaired the Parliamentary launch of the 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index. It’s not enough to consider quality of life by material things alone: Gross Domestic Product neglects great swathes of factors which make life worth living. As the Legatum Institute explains: Traditionally, a nation’s prosperity has been based solely on macroeconomic indicators such as a country’s income, represented either by GDP or by average income per person (GDP […]

Tags: , , , , , ,

Tonight: Bank of Dave is back


Dave Fishwick is a remarkable man. A self-made entrepreneur, he knows good business builds up society. So when he realised the banks were failing both savers and productive businesses, he set up Burnley Savings and Loans as a step towards a “tiny, tiny bank”. Dave personally guarantees customers’ savings out of his own assets. He provides a 5% return. He makes productive loans to local businesses he gets to know personally. But the Establishment doesn’t know how, perhaps whether, to […]

Tags: , , ,

NHS management pays over the odds with tax payers’ money


A recent Telegraph article reported that the NHS is paying “extortionate” prices for basic computer equipment and services. It showed that the NHS buys computer equipment at an average 28% more than wholesale prices. This is a shocking misuse of tax payers’ money and shows that the state is often unable to purchase even the smallest of items without insulting hard-working people. Its aversion to buying commodities in a free market is stark: 4GB USB flash memory stick: NHS price […]

Tags: , , , , ,

Banking: from Goldman Sachs to David Fishwick?


Two days ago, Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive director, resigned in sensational fashion, writing a column in the New York Times. In the article, he laid out the reasons for his resignation, citing the change in culture at the firm over the ten years he worked there. He wrote, It might sound surprising to a skeptical public, but culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always […]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Via LearnLiberty – Social Cooperation: Why thieves hate free markets


Via LearnLiberty.org: And also: Society is concerted action, cooperation. Society is the outcome of conscious and purposeful behaviour. … Individual man is born into a socially organized environment. In this sense alone we may accept the saying that society is–logically or historically–antecedent to the individual. In every other sense this dictum is either empty or nonsensical. The individual lives and acts within society. But society is nothing but the combination of individuals for cooperative effort. It exists nowhere else than […]

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wishing everyone a prosperous new year


Post Image

After so much economic turmoil, the traditional wish for a prosperous new year can be given with considerable vigour. The 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index (PDF) – “the world’s only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing” – showed that entrepreneurship and opportunity are the primary keys to prosperity, that they correlate more closely to a nation’s overall prosperity than any other factor. In particular, Legatum found that: Prosperity is found in entrepreneurial democracies that have strong social fabrics. Prosperity is a blend […]

Tags: , , , ,

Ideas are more powerful than armies


Post Image

Update: amended links for public read access. This afternoon, I am presenting five books which illustrate that ideas are more powerful than armies at the Young Briton’s Foundation conference. Here are the slides: Or browse here:

Tags: , , , , ,

Entrepreneurship and opportunity are the primary keys to prosperity


Post Image

It’s my 40th birthday. I found myself reflecting on life and what it means to promote prosperity, in the broadest sense. That led me to the Legatum Institute‘s Prosperity Index. The Prosperity Index provides a global assessment of wealth and wellbeing. The key findings are fascinating.  In particular, “Entrepreneurship and opportunity correlate more closely to a nation’s overall prosperity than any other factor.”  While other factors are still critical, it turns out entrepreneurship and opportunity is the best proxy for overall prosperity. Here’s […]

Tags: , , ,

← Older posts