Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Other Economic Leaders
336Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Other Economic Leaders
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Overview
Gates has approached philanthropy the same way he revolutionized computer software: with a fierce ambition to change the rules of the game. That's why at the 2008 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates advocated a creative capitalism in which big corporations, the distinguishing feature of the modern global economy, integrate doing good into their way of doing business.
This controversial new idea is discussed and debated by the more than forty contributors to this book, among them three Nobel laureates and two former U.S. cabinet secretaries. Edited by author and columnist Michael Kinsley, Creative Capitalism started as a first-of-its-kind online conversation that brought together some of the world's best minds to engage Gates's challenge. From Warren Buffett, who seconds Gates's analysis, to Lawrence Summers, who worries about the consequences of multiple corporate objectives, the essays cover a broad spectrum of opinion. Judge Richard Posner dismisses Gates's proposal as trumped-up charity that will sap the strengths of the profit-maximizing corporation, while journalist Martin Wolf maintains that the maximization of profit is far from universally accepted, and rightly so. Chicago Nobel laureate Gary Becker wonders whether altruistic companies can survive in a competitive economy, while Columbia Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps argues that a little altruism might be the right prescription for a variety of market imperfections.
Creative Capitalism is not just a book for philanthropists. It's a book that challenges the conventional wisdom about our economic system, a road map for the new global economy that is emerging as capitalism adapts itself once again to a changing world.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781439109922 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date: | 12/02/2008 |
Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 336 |
File size: | 833 KB |
About the Author
Conor Clarke is a fellow at The Atlantic Monthly and a former
editor at The Guardian.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction Michael Kinsley 1
A New Approach to Capitalism Bill Gates 7
Creative Capitalism: The Cheat Sheet Michael Kinsley 17
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Discuss "Creative Capitalism" Warren Buffett Bill Gates 20
Creative Capitalism: A Starting Critique Michael Kinsley 40
The Case for Creative Capitalism Ed Glaeser 48
But Wait! Can't the Poor Decide for Themselves? Gregory Clark 51
Let Old-fashioned capitalism Help the Poor William Easterly 55
How Capitalism Can Really Get Creative Steven Landsburg 58
Let's Move Beyond Milton Friedman's Icy Purity Ed Glaeser 60
Why Creative Capitalism Would Make Things Worse Richard Posner 63
Can Corporations That Do Good Really Compete? Gary Becker 68
A Reply to Richard Posner: Reform Comes from the Bottom Up Ed Glaeser 72
A Reply to Ed Glaeser: What Kind of Firm Are We Talking About? Richard Posner 75
Is Creative Capitalism Illegal? John Quiggin 77
Can a Corporation Do Good Without Fear of Carl Icahn? Ronald J. Gilson Michael Kinsley 80
Ten Points About Profit Martin Wolf 84
Can You Be Creative and Still Be Capitalist? Matthew Bishop 88
Why Creative Capitalism Gets in the Way of Democracy Robert Reich 91
No, Creative Capitalism Will Only Make Capitalism Stronger Paul Ormerod 100
Old-fashioned Capitalism is Moral Enough Willam Easterly 104
To Gates's Critics: You're Making Perfect the Enemy of the Good Elizabeth Stuart 107
The Problem with Gates: Do as I Say, Not as I Did Clive Crook 110
The Problem with Friedman: A Lack of Imagination Brad DeLong 115
A Quick Reply to Brad DeLong: Where's the Harm? Clive Crook 118
To Capitalism's Defenders:Don't Be So Defensive Matthew Bishop 120
A Response to Elizabeth Stuart: If Not Profits, What? William Easterly 124
Why Not Experiment? Paul Ormerod 126
Capitalism Works Because It's Self-Correcting William Easterly 128
Pure Versus Creative Capitalism: A False Choice Ed Glaeser 130
What Are We Talking About? Steven Landsburg 132
In Defense of a Good Reputation Michael Kremer 134
What Are We Taking About? Part Two Steven Landsburg 138
Creative Capitalism Has Its First Tool Loretta Michaels 140
Why Isn't Regular Capitalism Good Enough? Steven Landsburg 143
You Can Make Profits and Save the Poor Michael Kremer 146
Creative Capitalism Is Not Philanthropy Thierry Lefebvre 150
Just Do the Right Kind of Lobbying John Williamson 152
My Version of the Right Kind Nancy Birdsall 155
Just Tax the Rich John Roemer 156
A Capitalist Knows Who to Call Abhijit Banerjee 161
Does Foreign Aid Create Weak States? Michael Kremer 166
Yes, but Weak States Can Be Coaxed Creatively Eric Werker 170
How the Aid Industry Got Creative Nancy Birdsall 172
Even Government Can Be Creative Michael Kremer 174
Don't Change Capitalism, Expand It Kyle Chauvin 178
The Lesson of History Gregory Clark 183
Gates: The Right Place at the Right Time Nancy Koehn 186
What Makes Capitalism Work? Jagdish Bhagwati 190
In Defense of a Good Reputation, Part Two Nancy Birdsall 193
You Want Creative Capitalism? Try This Lawrence Summers 195
A Reply to Summers: Yes, It's a Fair Warning Vernon Smith 197
Maximizing Whose Profit? Justin Fox 201
A Brief Detour on Efficient Markets: An email exchange between Kinsley and Summers 204
What Makes Creative Capitalism Hard? Ester Duflo 207
Does Being Recongnized as a Good Citizen Make a Difference? Tim Harford 212
Foundations Could Use the Kick of Creative Capitalism Alexander Friedman 216
A Reply to Alexander Friedman: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch Steven Landsburg 221
Prove That It Works, and It Will Catch On Clive Crook 222
Gates Foundation to the Rescue! Tracy Williams Michael Deich Josh Daniel 226
A Reply to the Foundation: You're out to Touch Gregory Clark 236
Another Reply to the Foundation: What Are You Saying? Steven Landsburg 238
Let Us Explain Ourselves Tracy Williams Michael Deich Josh Daniel 243
The Sears Solution David Vogel 246
A Reply to David Vogel: The Demand for Virute Is Rising Conor Clarke 253
A Reply to Conor Clarke: Let's Not Be Too Cynical David Vogel 257
The Real Blind Spots of Today's Capitalists Matt Miller 262
The Bad Side Effects of Forcing Good Behavior Edmund S. Phepls 265
Altruists Are like Sadomasochists Richard Posner 273
What Gates Really Means Martin Wolf 276
What Would Adam Smith Do? Clive Crook 280
Putting Creativity Back into Creative Capitalism John Quiggin 284
Appendix 287
The Social Responsibility of Business Milton Friedman 287
What's So Bad About Poverty? Richard Posner 297
Companies as Citizens Michael Kinsley 301
Good Company Clive Crook 305
Contributors 311