Brian Carney and Isaac Getz’s Freedom, Inc. is a timely book. It’s also countercyclical and somewhat counterintuitive. After all, most of today’s writing about economics and business is haunted by the current crisis: nearly every author and commentator expects that either more or less government intervention will bring the economy out of its difficulties. But Carney and Getz remind us that without well-managed enterprises, there would be no economy at all. Crisis or no crisis, the engine of economic growth has always been, and will always remain, entrepreneurs. Nations without entrepreneurs—whether they drive them out with excessive taxes and regulations, or in more extreme cases, suppress, exile, or kill them—never reach prosperity. One can often ascertain the condition of a nation’s economy by assessing the cultural, legal, fiscal, and social status of its entrepreneurial class.
Carney and Getz profile a dozen visionary business leaders who share a common trait: they believe that liberty works in every aspect of our lives, including the workplace. When entrepreneurs build a culture of freedom and a trusting, liberated, and nonhierarchical work environment, the companies they lead tend to outperform their rivals. In businesses as diverse as insurance, wine-making, advertising, and hydraulics, the shift from traditional, authoritarian, command-and-control structures to a culture that liberates the individual initiative of employees has dramatically enhanced results and workforce morale.
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