activity and wage growth to be robust while also being consistent with price stability. the importance of business startups to our dual mandate objectives is why i have watched closely as various measures of new business formation have surged since the onset of the covid - 19 pandemic. see lisa d. cook ( 2011 ), “ inventing social capital : evidence from african american inventors, 1843 – 1930, ” explorations in economic history, vol. 48 ( december ), pp. 507 – 18 ; lisa d. cook ( 2014 ), “ violence and economic activity : evidence from african american patents, 1870 – 1940, ” journal of economic growth, vol. 19 ( june ), pp. 221 – 57 ; and lisa d. cook ( 2020 ), “ policies to broaden participation in the innovation process, ” hamilton project policy proposal 2020 - 11 ( washington : brookings institution, august ), https : / / www. hamiltonproject. org / assets / files / cook _ pp _ lo _ 8. 13. pdf. - 8applications for new businesses jumped to a record pace shortly after the pandemic struck the u. s. 13 the pace of applications has remained elevated above prepandemic norms all the way from the summer of 2020 to the most recent data, even though the pace appears to be cooling some this year. 14 at first, it might have seemed like these business applications were mainly being submitted by people who lost their jobs, or perhaps by an increase in “ gig economy ” work. there was doubtless some of that going on, but research and data since then have painted a more optimistic picture. when researchers look across areas of the country, the pandemic business applications had only a weak connection with layoffs. the surge in applications persisted long after overall layoffs fell to the subdued pace we have seen since early 2021. the applications did have a strong relationship with workers voluntarily leaving their jobs. some quitting workers may have chosen to join these new businesses as founders or early employees. and surging business applications were soon followed by new businesses hiring workers and expanding. over the last two years of available data, new firms created 1. 9 million jobs per year, a pace not seen since the eve of the global financial crisis. 15 “ business applications ” refers to applications for new employer identification numbers submitted to the internal revenue service. these are reported by the u. s. census bureau in the business formation statistics. an application does

##makers, we make decisions affecting the see lisa d. cook and anna gifty opoku - agyeman ( 2019 ), “ ‘ it was a mistake for me to choose this field, ’ ” new york times, september 30. see lisa d. cook and christine moser ( 2024 ), “ lessons for expanding the share of disadvantaged students in economics from the aea summer program at michigan state university, ” journal of economic perspectives, vol. 38 ( summer ), pp. 191 – 208. - 5entire economy and the well - being of every american by focusing on the dual mandate given to us by congress : maximum employment and stable prices. entrepreneurs ’ vital role in the economy in my years of conducting research and while at the board, i have met many inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs who made important contributions to the economy. many of them happened to be women who were very knowledgeable, creative, and inspiring. so i want to discuss the vital role entrepreneurship and new business creation play in our economy. you might ask what interest i have in this subject, as a monetary policymaker focused closely on the dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. well, this topic has interested me for a long time, and i conducted a fair amount of research on entrepreneurship and innovation before joining the board. but the topic is also important precisely because of our dual mandate. to convince you of this, i will explain a few of the ways in which economists think about entrepreneurship, and how they relate to the dual mandate. the first is the most basic : for many people — many millions, in fact — entrepreneurship or self - employment is a career choice. 7 it is their preferred way of there is no single way to measure the number of self - employed individuals and related businesses, but it certainly numbers in the millions. the latest bureau of labor statistics current population survey indicates there are roughly 10 million unincorporated and 7 million incorporated self - employed individuals. separate data on businesses from the u. s. census bureau indicate that, as of 2021, there were about 25 million nonemployer and 800, 000 employer sole proprietorships ( nonemployer statistics ; statistics of u. s. businesses ), https : / / www. census. gov / programs - surveys / nonemployer - statistics. html, https : / / www. census. gov / programs - surveys / susb. html. for analysis of inconsistencies between self