If we traveled back to the year 800 BC, in Greece, we would see that merchants whose businesses failed were forced to sit in the marketplace with a basket over their heads.
In premodern Italy, failed business owners, who had outstanding debts, were taken totally naked to the public square where they had to bang their butts against a special stone while a crowd jeered at them.
In the 17th century in France, failed business owners were taken to the center of the market, where the beginning of their bankruptcy was publicly announced.
And in order to avoid immediate imprisonment, they had to wear a green bonnet so that everyone knew they were a failure.
Of course, these are extreme examples.
But it is important to remember that when we excessively punish those who fail, we stifle innovation and business creation, the engines of economic growth in any country.
Time has passed, and today we don't publicly humiliate failed entrepreneurs.
And they don't broadcast their failures on social media.
In fact, I think that all of us can relate with the pain of failure.
But we don't share the details of those experiences.
