Really? Obama Speaks at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit

At last Friday's opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Palo Alto, President Obama said that "entrepreneurship is the engine of growth".  Well, that's interesting, because during his presidency, entrepreneurship has been woefully slow.  To that point, I present the following chart from the Kauffman Foundation, that has been tracking the growth of entrepreneurship in this country for nearly two decades.

As this chart shows, business startups peaked in 2009; despite the recession.  But, since then, have fallen to below the norm for the last 5 years.   While 2015 saw an improvement, we are still creating fewer businesses than we should be.  Just as was the case when, in 2003, business startups dipped below the zero line as a result of the post 9/11 recession.  However, this recent dip in 2014 -- 5 years past the end of the recession -- has been twice as bad as that of 2003. Its not that "ideas" for new businesses don't exist. I merely think that the economy is unable to provide the funding for those ideas to be turned in reality. 

This is just another reason why Barack Obama will go down in history as the fourth worst President when it comes to the economy.  I personally believe that Dodd-Frank's heavy hand on mortgage lending is the reason for the lack of business startups, because often, people were able to borrow against their homes in order to start a new business.  Now those lending requirements are very tight.

References:

Obama, Zuckerberg promote entrepreneurship at global summit at Stanford University: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/06/25/Obama-Zuckerberg-promote-entrepreneurship-at-global-summit-at-Stanford-University/5731466873146/

Startup Activity Report, Charts & Graphs: http://www.kauffman.org/microsites/kauffman-index/media/charts-and-graphs/startup-activity

Barack Obama's Sad Record on Economic Growth: http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/02/01/barack_obamas_sad_record_on_economic_growth_101987.html

What is the Dodd-Frank Act? How does it affect me? | Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/13/dodd-frank-act-affect-me.asp