Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Creative Capitalism

Having majored in Finance, I have admired Alan Greenspan all these years. This was one man, whose opinion mattered, not just to American financiers but also to other central bankers around the world. People literally stopped to listen to what he had to say and the FOMC meetings created waves in most economies before and after.
His decisions had the ability to change the world - and change the world they did. For the worse unfortunately. His solution to every crisis was easing of interest rates, creating cheap capital, to boost spending and investment. People taking ever higher risks and using their capital "creatively". We should thank him for Everything!
Anyways, I found out that Creative Capitalism meant something entirely different from what I had been associating it with; and surprisingly it came from someone I had disliked all these years. Bill Gates ! - one of the greatest capitalists in the world
Bill - Capitalism has improved the lives of billions of people — something that's easy to forget at a time of great economic uncertainty. But it has left out billions more. They have great needs, but they can't express those needs in ways that matter to markets. So they are stuck in poverty, suffer from preventable diseases and never have a chance to make the most of their lives. Governments and nonprofit groups have an irreplaceable role in helping them, but it will take too long if they try to do it alone. It is mainly corporations that have the skills to make technological innovations work for the poor. To make the most of those skills, we need a more creative capitalism: an attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off. We need new ways to bring far more people into the system — capitalism — that has done so much good in the world. - TIME
Wow it's pretty impressive. This guy has the power and definately the resources to make a huge difference. Anything coming from him can be assumed to become a major movement towards the improvement of the lives of the poor around the world.
Today I've lost respect for one and gained it for another.