It remains to be seen how much Bill Gates' plea for creative capitalism changes the face of business, but it has certainly sparked a considerable amount of discussion at Davos and elsewhere.
It is common for the topic of the poor to come up at the gathering of the mega-rich known as the World Economic Forum. But the notion that businesses themselves are responsible, at least in part, for solving poverty has gained increased attention at this year's forum, according to reports coming out of the Swiss ski resort town.
According to Marketwatch, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a May summit in London where business leaders will explore ways in which corporations can work to combat poverty.
While many are applauding Gates' call, others say that the role of business is making money, not curing societal ills. For those wanting to hear more on each argument, check out our point-counterpoint on the matter, with CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos arguing that Gates is right, while Declan McCullagh says the Microsoft chairman is off-base.
UPDATE: The actual speech is available for viewing.
Few people have benefited more from capitalism than Bill Gates.
But these days, Microsoft's chairman is seeing first-hand the failures of the market system and is now calling on businesses to take greater responsibility for those left out in the cold by the free market.
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In a speech Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates is calling on companies to think more broadly about how their products can benefit society.
Much of Gates' work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has centered on two particular shortcomings of capitalism--solving health problems that affect only the poor and improving educational systems.
In his speech, Gates calls on businesses to launch "creative capitalism" projects of their own.
"I definitely see, once I'm full time at the foundation, reaching out to various industries--going to cell phone companies, banks and more pharma companies--and talking about how...they can do these things," Gates told The Wall Street Journal in an interview before his speech.
I'm interested to see the reaction to Gates' speech. It is hard to argue that Gates is not practicing what he preaches. In addition to using the bulk of his fortune to address capitalism's shortcomings, Gates is shifting his work toward philanthropy. In July, Gates will step down from full-time work at Microsoft and shift his focus to the foundation.
But it is also true that it took Gates a long time to get to this place--a fact also pointed out in the Journal article. In recent years, the company has launched a broad array of programs to bring its technology to the billions that have been left out of the PC revolution. Some have argued, though, that it was the threats of Linux and piracy, not altruism, that initially prompted Microsoft to expand its mind.
And even as Gates calls on businesses to start addressing capitalism's shortfalls, his company continues to be criticized for abusing its position in the marketplace at the expense of rivals.
Take a look at the Journal's video interview with Gates and sound off on what you think about Gates' notion of "creative capitalism." It's also worth checking out the Journal article, which is filled with interesting details and a look at what's on Gates' bookshelf.
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