Bill Gates seeks ‘creative capitalism’

January 24th, 2008

The wealthiest man in the world doesn’t seem to talk out a whole lot, but when he does people tend to give him his space in the papers. Probably hoping they can get free gold watches just for talking to him.

Gates spoke at the World Economic Forum (video) on Thursday in Davos, Switzerland calling for companies to think more broadly about how their products benefit society.

“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.

“We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well,” Mr. Gates will tell world leaders at the forum, according to a copy of the speech seen by The Wall Street Journal.

“The rate of improvement for the third that is better off is pretty rapid,” he said. “The part that’s unsatisfactory is for the bottom third — two billion of six billion.”

Gates has done a lot of good things with his enormous wealth, and plans to do much more. Can’t really say I am against anything he says particularly, but the position he is in makes it a lot easier to speak about these things than for the average Joe. Unless you have the amount of wealth that he, or the Fortune 500 guy shave you really aren’t in much of a position to consider the sort of “sahring the wealth” philosophy that comes with security, and a position of monopoly.

Microsoft is in a position where they can do whatever they want. Some suggest that some of the concerns have less to do with helping people than it does by protecting their own interests and their monopolistic position in the capitalist market due to competition and piracy.

All in all as long as he is going to spend a ton of his money helping others people can’t complain a whole lot. HE is in the position to spread his philosophy about how things should work. Microsoft, and Bill gates have certainly been using “creative capitalism” since they were founded so I guess Gates is a pretty good source to speak on it .