>>"Barriers for entry [to markets?] are lower"? -- Where?<<
Maybe they aren't lower than in 1776. But they are lower inthe information age than in the industrial age. Of my 10 closest friends from high school at least 7 have started at least one business - I don't think any previous generation has had that kind of business formation.
Our western expansion after the civil war probably had more percentage of self-employed people than any era since.