Despite a health catastrophe and one of the worst economic downturns in modern history, the number of startups grew in the US last year. According to a report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, from 3.5 million in 2019, startups grew to 4.4 million in 2020, a 24 percent increase. The number of new businesses also increased in Chile, Turkey, and the UK.
Other economies, though, particularly the ones in the EU, were not so vibrant.
In Germany they fell by 11 percent.
In a recent report titled ‘If the EU fails, this is how’, the head of Oxford-based think-tank Euro Intelligence Wolfgang Munchau insisted that while no one statistic ever tells a complete story, this one comes a long way.
Mr Munchau argued the EU still lives in the past.
He explained: “When we discuss European politics, we talk about EU governance, fiscal and monetary policy, immigration and EU enlargement.
“What Europe’s multiple crises have in common is that they are driven to a large extent by a lack of innovation, and the resulting lack of productivity growth.
“Stagnant societies close themselves off…
