And Bill Gates on “Creative Capitalism”
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week Bill Gates continued his discussion about philanthropy by taking it to the business world. He talks about what he calls “Creative Capitalism.” The essence of this Creative Capitalism is “…an approach where governments, businesses, and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities.”
Now, it’s one thing to talk about individual philanthropy, but it’s quite another to talk about corporate philanthropy. It sounds like an oxymoron; how could a company make a profit being altruistic? But the genius of what Gates is talking about is the idea that a company can make a profit if it can find a way to provide goods and services needed by the world’s people. One example he cited was the ability of a company in India to find a way to produce a vaccine for meningitis that was affordable for people there. In another example, Gates talked about (RED), which uses the sale of products to fund campaigns against AIDS and other diseases.
No, this isn’t a new idea. Adam Smith talked about it in The Wealth of Nations. It just takes someone with worldwide power and force of a Bill Gates to get something like this off the “tipping point” and moving.
I need to think more about this. What about you? Any thoughts?