The Audacity of Bill Gates

He wants to reinvent capitalism to do more for the poor. A surprising range of people object

Alessandro Della Valle / Keystone / epa / Corbis

Bill Gates writes in this magazine that he wants big corporations to do more for the world's poor. He calls this "creative capitalism." Who could possibly object?

Actually, lots of people. After Gates outlined creative capitalism in a speech at Davos, Switzerland, in January, I started a website on the topic creativecapitalismblog.com) with the Tom Sawyer--ish intention of inviting distinguished economists, journalists and ordinary people to discuss their reaction to Gates' notion and then turning it all into a book. It has worked like a dream, and the book will be out by the end of the year. The...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!