Can a startup nation and a welfare state co-exist?

Yes, actually, they're mutually beneficial. Welfare states just took a long time to understand that.

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A paradigm shift

An economy’s existential need for startups and innovation has become a given. Whether in Madrid, Tehran, or Havana, governments of all political affinities recognize that an economy that doesn’t innovate doesn’t progress.

In his 1992 book “The End of History & the Last Man”, scholar Francis Fukuyama theorized that Western liberal democracy was the final, most successful form of government. A sequel could be written, named “The End of Economic History”, whereby free markets and pro-innovation policies have taken hold, at differing extends, of liberal and communist economies alike.

This paradigm shift has led to the emergence of startup ecosystems outside of the United States, where such ecosystems originated. The past decade has seen LATAM, Africa, and Asia all reach record levels of VC funding. The opportunities and complexities ushered in by that “new normal” are what this publication seeks to cover.