And in doing so, those brave early-day explorers mapped out the very planet we call home. Today, we know almost every corner of our earthly habitat. And again we are faced with the question: shall we explore unfamiliar terrain and accept a margin of error? Shall we accept uncertain outcomes, but, in doing so, help preserve our lives and livelihoods?
For example, cultural barriers to risk taking, such as the stigma of entrepreneurial failure, are rather high; there is a lack of easily available and harmonised information on firms; debt investment enjoys a tax advantage over equity investment; pension products and systems are generally averse to risk capital; and financial literacy[8] – as well as public investment in fundamental science and market-oriented research and development as a share of GDP[9] – is lower than in many peer economies.