Tuesday, September 9, 2008

"Making Capitalism More Creative"

A couple weeks ago an article appeared in Time Magazine by Bill Gates. With an endowment of $38.7 billion, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has a lot of money to work with. In this article Gates discusses the role of his Foundation, as well as leaders of NGOs, businesses, and governments, in solving global health problems. He writes,

"As a businessman, I've seen that companies can tap new markets right now, even if conditions aren't ideal. And as a philanthropist, I've found that our caring for others compels us to help people right now. The longer we wait, the more people suffer needlessly."
Read the whole article here, or watch the video here.

-Andy Pritchard

1 comment:

W Lo http://imontheside.wordpress.com/ said...

Combining capitalism and humanitarianism is a relatively new and developing field. It stands in contrast to more socialist models, that focus on government distribution of resources. Hats off to Bill Gates (and Bill Clinton) for their pressure to turn the "products" we sell into something constructive for the general population.