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.
Former President Bill Clinton was at Microsoft's campus Friday as part of the company's celebration of the end of its charitable giving campaign. The effort brought in $72 million in individual and company donations (including software), a total that Clinton praised.
Clinton, who just authored a book on giving, noted the role the Internet has played in making it easier to do charitable work, saying it "has changed the landscape of potential for private citizens doing public good."
He urged more individuals to tackle the world's big problems.
"Don't you think that because you're not a billionaire that you can't have an impact," he said. "There are many, many problems in the world where people of modest means can have a huge impact."
Full disclosure, folks. I wasn't there. Microsoft was kind enough to send me over some notes. For a firsthand account, check out this post from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Todd Bishop, including video.
Also, according to Jessica Mintz at the AP, Clinton had this to say about a letter to the National Archives asking that his presidential communication records not be released until 2012.
"It was a letter to speed up presidential releases, not to slow them down," Clinton told reporters at the Microsoft event.
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