Creative Destruction in Small Business Bankruptcy (opens in new tab)

The big killer in the UK is the inability to get rid of business leases, largely because landlords can still force exemption from the legal protections. The second is lenders who can insist on 'directors' personal guarantees' at every turn - which puts their family homes on the line.

If there is one thing the UK could do to boost business startups, it would be to ensure that business owners can hand back leases whenever they want, and that 'directors guarantees' are unenforceable.

However in a country that remains obsessed with land and titles, that is unlikely to happen.

One of the greatest things about the USA is that entrepreneurial mistakes are forgiven and you're given another shot. It is why we are the greatest nation when it comes to startups and entrepreneurship in the world.

In germany bankruptcy (in the anglo-american sense of "resetting" all obligations) is only possible after a 3 year period[1] in which the debtor has to give up all income beyond a certain limit to the creditor.

Even this is only due EU regulations, which limited this period to 3 years, before it was 5 years.

[1]: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatinsolvenz#Ablauf_und_Zie...

Student loans cant be bankrupted out of.

Big biz can "learn from their mistakes" but not a 19 year old college kid.

But we need creative destruction in big businesses