Commenter: the New System Actually Impedes Entrepreneurship

More

Commenter DFooter writes:


As an entrepreneur that has started three tech businesses in the last 15 years, I have yet to hear of anyone who chose not to go out on their own due to health insurance concerns. I think this is due to two factors: most entrepreneurs are young and don't need insurance, or they are married and their spouse has insurance (my case). Because of the individual mandate that will force everyone to have insurance, I think that, at least in the tech industry, Obamacare will decrease entrepreneurship, as the young people who start most tech companies will now have a large, unproductive and unaffordable expense in paying for generally unneeded health insurance. That cash would otherwise go towards productive business building activities.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's at least plausible that having to buy insurance if you do strike out on your own might encourage younger people to stay in the corporate nest.
Jump to comments

Megan McArdle is a former writer and editor at The Atlantic.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

More in Business

In Focus

Photos of Tornado Damage in Moore, Oklahoma

Just In