01.26.08
Creative Capitalism.. the speach and some discussion
This morning I watched the video of Bill Gates talk at Davos this past week (see here). His theme was ’creative capitalism’ - stretching the reach of market forces to help the poor - and the growing understanding among us all that ”when change is driven by proper incentives you have a sustainable plan for change…” Worth a watch…
And in one of the many responses to Bill Gates speach - Bill Schambra of the Bradley Center of the Hudson Institute sponsored a discussion on January 30th on the potential of “creative capitalism” with a panel which included William Easterly (Brookings Institution and New York University) Eugene Steuerle (The Urban Institute) and Allen Hammond (World Resources Institute). Attached here is the transcript.
Michael Lewkowitz said,
January 29, 2008 at 2:04 am
The thing I’m struggling with in the application of capitalism, regardless of how we tag it, is most of the expressions of it seem to still work from the fundamental requirement of increasing consumption (growth). It’s the essence of capitalism itself. And if we continue to reinforce that we continue to fuel the mindset that has us in this precarious place.
That said I also think what a lot of people mean is that they want to apply the best practices they have learned to efficiently tend to the problem at hand. And that’s positive - though tricky to separate.
Thoughts?