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We already saw Millenials as an exceptionally entrepreneurial generation, but young Americans may be even more focused on starting their own businesses than we thought. Over half of Americans aged 18-34 either want to start a business or have already started one, according to a new Young Invincibles report. However, the would-be entrepreneurs see several barriers in their way. Here's a look at what respondents to the Young Invincibles survey saw as the biggest barriers in their way: Many would like the US Congress to clear a path for them. 65% of the Millenials surveyed want Congress to "prioritize making it easier to start a business." 83% want Congress to make it easier to get loans. Given the struggles some in the generation are having with their student loans , this is a generation that understands debt. Student loan forgiveness for young people who start businesses was also a popular fix to a common barrier, with 81 percent of survey respondents supportive of the idea. Young people of color are more likely to strongly support these suggestions. More young African Americans strongly support increasing access to credit and student loan relief (62 percent and 63 percent, respectively). The majority of young Latinos also strongly support these ideas (53 percent for both). Among all young people who have seen their debt increase, school loans (42 percent) make up the most common amount of increased debt. This is even more common among people under age 25 (54 percent have seen increased student loan debt). Thirty-two percent of young Americans have more than $5,000 in personal debt, not including a mortgage, and 25 percent are very worried about being able to pay off their current debt. Read the full report here .

Dane Stangler and Paul Kedrosky --senior analyst and senior fellow, respectively, at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation --have put together a comprehensive paper on the number of companies started in the U.S. year over year. They find the number surprisingly consistent. Here's a look at the numbers from the Census Bureau: The data does not include our recent global recession, but it is striking to be sure. The Stangler and Kedrosky examine several possible explanations in this early study of the data. But the numbers available do seem to back up the notion that the U.S. is a highly entrepreneurial country. It remains to be seen, too, how the severe recession of 2007 09 will affect new-firm formation in the United States. Early indicators are mixed, with some showing a rise in entrepreneurship and others showing a decline. Nevertheless, it's clear from the evidence presented here that entrepreneurship the creation of new firms and the jobs and innovations they bring is a persistent phenomenon in the United States economy. At any given time, hundreds of thousands of Americans are prepared to take a leap into the unknown and pursue an idea. Policies will affect this number at the margins, but the most important thing we can do to promote entrepreneurship is to provide a hospitable environment. Entrepreneurs are the bearers of often-discomfiting change and we must continue to ensure that such change is not prospectively discouraged, but welcomed and celebrated. Read EXPLORING FIRM FORMATION: WHY IS THE NUMBER OF NEW FIRMS CONSTANT? here .

Last week we highlighted the McKinsey Quarterly's report on companies that made great leaps in innovation during the Great Depression. Hewlett-Packard, Polaroid, and DuPont were noted examples. But what about start-ups and small business? Does entrepreneurship take a nap during recessions? The Kauffman Foundation looked companies that went public every year from 1901-2006 and found some noted names. A cross-section of successful public companies were founded during recessions, including such recent examples as Genentech, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Genzyme, and many others. And prominent companies being founded during a recession are not just a recent phenomenon, with Morgan Stanley, Allstate, Krispy Kreme, and Knoll, among others, all able to trace their founding dates to the Great Depression. More generally, the report found that there wasn't much of gap between the number of companies started during recession years and the number started during years of economic expansion years. Over that full period, an average of 70 companies were founded per year during recessions, compared with 83 during expansion. And looking at the data for all years after World War II, the gap is nonexistent: On average, 138 companies went public during each year of economic expansion, while 140 companies went public during years of recession. This report isn't extensive enough to draw firm conclusions, but at the very least it shows, as does the McKinsey article, that there are opportunities during down periods. The relationship between when a company is founded and its eventual success is little-explored, but interesting and important. Should we expect fewer companies of lasting significance to be founded during economic downturns? Or, should we expect that tough economic times produce quality companies in similar numbers as other periods? The answers to these questions touch on issues in policy, economics, and entrepreneurship research. While the research summarized in this short paper is only preliminary, it suggests some possible early answers. Knowing that a company was successful-at least as evidenced by having gone public-does not give us any information about whether that company was founded during a recessionary or non-recessionary period. At least in a general sense, that is suggestive in that, given smaller numbers of companies founded during recessionary periods, the implication is that companies founded in such times have a higher likelihood of turning out to be economically important. A good next step would be to look at key shared characteristics between successful companies started in periods of recession. Read the full Kauffman report here .