Bill Gates calls on leaders to practice creative capitalism

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation called for a "creative capitalism" that uses market forces to address poor-country needs that are being ignored. "We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well," said Gates 

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A New Approach to Capitalism in the 21st Century

· William H. Gates III
Chaired by · Klaus Schwab
Thursday 24 January 2008

William H. Gates III, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, USA, called in this session for a new "creative capitalism" for businesses to help stamp out global poverty and diseases. He lauded capitalism as a good system to meet economic demands and improve living standards. As a result, the world is becoming a better place with longer life expectancy and advances in science that have improved people’s welfare, he said.

But Gates added that much needs to be done. There are still one billion people in the world who subsist on less than one dollar a day and who have no access to clean water, electricity and other essentials that most people take for granted. Cures for malaria, which kills over a million a year, receive less attention than cures for baldness.

"The world is getting better, but it’s not getting better fast enough, and it’s not getting better for everyone," he said. "We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well. I like to call this idea creative capitalism."

Gates described himself as an optimist. ‘’But I’m an impatient optimist,’’ he said.

He detailed various ways for corporations to "stretch the reach of market forces to bring the benefits of science and technology to everyone." He also urged CEOs to have their top brains devote a part of their time to solving problems faced by the world’s poor.

He noted that creative capitalism will continue to harness the basic motivation of the capitalist system, that is, self-interest, to enable companies to accomplish the twin mission of making profits and improving the lives of those who do not fully benefit from market forces.

Gates cited a partnership between the World Health Organization and an Indian pharmaceutical company to sell a meningitis vaccine at a controlled price affordable to the poor in Africa. Bono’s (RED) campaign is also a way in which entrepreneurs can marry economic demand with a good cause.

"If we’re going to find a sustainable way to help those who can’t pay, we have to use self-interest and caring – capitalism and philanthropy – to direct attention to people who have been left behind," Gates said. He urged participants to think of a project of creative capitalism that they could carry out in the coming years.

Gates said creative capitalism is an evolution, not a revolution. He noted that while Adam Smith identified self-interest as a driver of capitalism, he, in fact, argued in an earlier book that humans gain pleasure from taking an interest in the fortunes of others. He concluded: ‘’If we can spend the early decades of the 21st century finding approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the world.’’

 http://www.weforum.org