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The problem with investment culture is twofold.

The problem with investment culture is twofold. 1) A lot of European money is Old Money, as in really old. You don't get to hold on that much money for hundreds of years without being on the conservative side when it comes to overly-risky investments. 2) Effective redistributive policies in the richest Northern countries have historically reduced the concentration of money to the benefit of society as a whole, but they kept low the number of people with "money to burn", a requirement for bootstrapping a healthy VC ecosystem. As a "leftie" myself, I honestly wouldn't know how to fix this without screwing up a lot of other (arguably more important) elements. Southern countries didn't redistribute as much but their elites tend to "run with the till" as soon as they can, which obviously does not help investments at any level. Overall, I think trying to ape SV is a waste of time; each country or district should try to leverage its own cultural elements that can bring success, which might not include the requirement for VC backing.

Posted by toyg on Apr 20, 2015, 9:46 AM

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The problem with investment culture is twofold.

toygApr 20, 2015, 9:46 AM

The problem with investment culture is twofold. 1) A lot of European money is Old Money, as in really old. You don't get to hold on that much money for hundreds of years without being on the conservative side when it comes to overly-risky investments. 2) Effective redistributive policies in the richest Northern countries have historically reduced the concentration of money to the benefit of society as a whole, but they kept low the number of people with "money to burn", a requirement for bootstrapping a healthy VC ecosystem. As a "leftie" myself, I honestly wouldn't know how to fix this without screwing up a lot of other (arguably more important) elements. Southern countries didn't redistribute as much but their elites tend to "run with the till" as soon as they can, which obviously does not help investments at any level. Overall, I think trying to ape SV is a waste of time; each country or district should try to leverage its own cultural elements that can bring success, which might not include the requirement for VC backing.

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