Jim Hlavac
Economic Theory
Economic Theory
        Entrepreneurialism is an unfortunately large word for a rather
simple premise:

     All people are entrepreneurial. This is because instead of being one
separate thing or type of person who does this or that act,
entrepreneurialsim is a scale. No economic activity is without a degree
of risk, and no economic activity is without effort, nor without
benefit. The proportions of risk, effort and benefit determine the
degree of entrepreneurialism. The pitfall of more risk particularly, but
also more effort, is the reality of loss.

     All economic activity has the potential for loss. The fruit on the
lowest branches might be easier to obtain, but it also might be the
least ripe, or the most damaged, and thus might be inedible, and thus
the risk and effort put into obtaining that unusable material is a "loss."
     
     All people engage in economic activity so that they can survive.  
Those who engage in the greatest amount of effort coupled with the
greatest amount of risk, and thus expect the greatest amount of
benefit, are the most entrepreneurial. They are also, however, open
to the greatest amount of loss.

     Conversely, little risk and small effort, while resulting in perhaps a
"smaller" benefit, are still entrepreneurial because there is still some
degree, however slight, of loss.   

     Loss is a thing as real as benefit. Likewise it is only defined by an
individual involved in some labor. What one person considers a loss
might be considered by some other person a benefit. Put another way,
if a business fails it might be said that the entrepreneur lost a certain
amount of money. However, that entrepreneur might consider that he
got a benefit -- namely an education that cost him that same certain
amount of money.