Yeah, it surprised me, too, to read that in what I'd long viewed as the ultra-liberal, pro-big-government New York  Times.

But it wasn't really the Times speaking, rather it was Tom Friedman, one of the Times' most savvy and open-minded columnists. 

Here's the opening quote, which captures the essence:

"Here’s my fun fact for the day, provided courtesy of Robert Litan, who
directs research at the Kauffman Foundation, which specializes in promoting
innovation in America: “Between 1980 and 2005, virtually all net new jobs
created in the U.S. were created by firms that were 5 years old or less,” said
Litan. “That is about 40 million jobs. That means the established firms created
no new net jobs during that period.”

"Message: If we want to bring down unemployment in a sustainable way, neither
rescuing General Motors nor funding more road construction will do it. We need
to create a big bushel of new companies — fast." 

Oh, yes, he also talks about the importance of "high IQ risk-takers" to our economy.  That's you, gentle readers. 

Link to that Tom Friedman article, "Start-ups, not bail-outs"