The number of new businesses in America is booming

THE PANDEMIC has had all sorts of unexpected consequences, from a boom in sourdough-bread baking to more people listening to nostalgic music on Spotify. Less noticed is a once-in-a-generation surge in startups. The government regularly releases figures on new-business formation, derived from applications for tax registrations. And “high-propensity” business applications—those displaying characteristics typically associated with firm-creation and the employment of staff—recently reached their highest quarterly level on record (see chart).