Entrepreneurship: too risky to let loose in a stormy climate?

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, ‘the pursuit of opportunity regardless of the consequences’, is a privileged instrument of liberal market economics worldwide. Yet the financial turmoil resulting from the credit crunch suggests that the social and economic effects of unregulated entrepreneurial behaviour in pursuit of short-term profit are severe and self-defeating, resulting in massive destruction of value for national economies, businesses and individuals. This article examines the wider consequences of this ‘old’ entrepreneurship and, using examples, proposes the development of a ‘new’ entrepreneurship led by education, of which social responsibility, environmental sustainability and the practice of ethical and moral frameworks become integral components