Creative Capitalism

Michael Kinsley

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781847394200
• eBook ISBN: 9781847376299
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Bill Gates is not only the world's most successful capitalist; he's the world's biggest philanthropist. 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 last year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates advocated a 'creative capitalism', in which big corporations should integrate doing good into their way of doing business. This controversial new idea is discussed and debated by the more than 40 contributors to this book, among them three Nobel laureates and two former U.S. cabinet secretaries. Edited by author and columnist Michael Kinsley, Creative Capitalismbrings together some of the world's best minds to engage Gates's challenge. From Warren Buffet, 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. Creative Capitalismis not just a book for philanthropists. It's a book that challenges the conventional wisdom about our economic system, a roadmap for the new global economy that is emerging as capitalism adapts itself once again to a changing world.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Colophon
• Also by Michael Kinsley
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Introduction: by Michael Kinsley
• A New Approach to Capitalism: Bill Gates
• Creative Capitalism: The Cheat Sheet: Michael Kinsley
• Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Discuss "Creative Capitalism": Warren Buffett and Bill Gates
• Creative Capitalism: A Starting Critique: Michael Kinsley
• The Case for Creative Capitalism: Ed Glaeser
• But Wait! Can't the Poor Decide for Themselves?: Gregory Clark
• Let Old-fashioned Capitalism Help the Poor: William Easterly
• How Capitalism Can Really Get Creative: Steven Landsburg
• Let's Move Beyond Milton Friedman's Icy Purity: Ed Glaeser
• Why Creative Capitalism Would Make Things Worse: Richard Posner
• Can Corporations That Do Good Really Compete?: Gary Becker
• A Reply to Richard Posner: Reform Comes from the Bottom Up: Ed Glaeser
• A Reply to Ed Glaeser: What Kind of Firm Are We Talking About?: Richard Posner
• Is Creative Capitalism Illegal?: John Quiggin
• Can a Corporation Do Good Without Fear of Carl Icahn?: Ronald J. Gilson: An email exchange with Michael Kinsley
• Ten Points About Profit: Martin Wolf
• Can You Be Creative and Still Be Capitalist?: Matthew Bishop
• Why Creative Capitalism Gets in the Way of Democracy: Robert Reich
• No, Creative Capitalism Will Only Make Capitalism Stronger: Paul Ormerod
• Old-fashioned Capitalism Is Moral Enough: William Easterly
• To Gates's Critics: You're Making Perfect the Enemy of the Good: Elizabeth Stuart
• The Problem with Gates: Do as I Say, Not as I Did: Clive Crook
• The Problem with Friedman: A Lack of Imagination: Brad DeLong
• A Quick Reply to Brad DeLong: Where's the Harm?: Clive Crook
• To Capitalism's Defenders: Don't Be So Defensive: Matthew Bishop
• A Response to Elizabeth Stuart: If Not Profits, What?: William Easterly
• Why Not Experiment?: Paul Ormerod
• Capitalism Works Because It's Self-Correcting: William Easterly
• Pure Versus Creative Capitalism: A False Choice: Ed Glaeser
• What Are We Talking About?: Steven Landsburg
• In Defense of a Good Reputation: Michael Kremer
• What Are We Talking About? Part Two: Steven Landsburg
• Creative Capitalism Has Its First Tool: Loretta Michaels
• Why Isn't Regular Capitalism Good Enough?: Steven Landsburg
• You Can Make Profits and Save the Poor: Michael Kremer
• Creative Capitalism Is Not Philanthropy: Thierry Lefebvre
• Just Do the Right Kind of Lobbying: John Williamson
• My Version of the Right Kind: Nancy Birdsall
• Just Tax the Rich: John Roemer
• A Capitalist Knows Who to Call: Abhijit Banerjee
• Does Foreign Aid Create Weak States?: Michael Kremer
• Yes, but Weak States Can Be Coaxed Creatively: Eric Werker
• How the Aid Industry Got Creative: Nancy Birdsall
• Even Government Can Be Creative: Michael Kremer
• Don't Change Capitalism, Expand It: Kyle Chauvin
• The Lesson of History: Gregory Clark
• Gates: The Right Place at the Right Time: Nancy Koehn
• What Makes Capitalism Work?: Jagdish Bhagwati
• In Defense of a Good Reputation, Part Two: Nancy Birdsall
• You Want Creative Capitalism? Try This: Lawrence Summers
• A Reply to Summers: Yes, It's a Fair Warning: Vernon Smith
• Maximizing Whose Profit?: Justin Fox
• A Brief Detour on Efficient Markets: An email exchange between Kinsley and Summers
• What Makes Creative Capitalism Hard?: Esther Duflo
• Does Being Recognized as a Good Citizen Make a Difference?: Tim Harford
• Foundations Could Use the Kick of Creative Capitalism: Alexander Friedman
• A Reply to Alexander Friedman: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: Steven Landsburg
• Prove That It Works, and It Will Catch On: Clive Crook
• Gates Foundation to the Rescue!: Tracy Williams, Michael Deich, and Josh Daniel
• A Reply to the Foundation: You're out of Touch: Gregory Clark
• Another Reply to the Foundation: What Are You Saying?: Steven Landsburg
• Let Us Explain Ourselves: Tracy Williams, Michael Deich, and Josh Daniel
• The Sears Solution: David Vogel
• A Reply to David Vogel: The Demand for Virtue Is Rising: Conor Clarke
• A Reply to Conor Clarke: Let's Not Be Too Cynical: David Vogel
• The Real Blind Spots of Today's Capitalists: Matt Miller
• The Bad Side Effects of Forcing Good Behavior: Edmund S. Phelps
• Altruists Are like Sadomasochists: Richard Posner
• What Gates Really Means: Martin Wolf
• What Would Adam Smith Do?: Clive Crook
• Putting Creativity Back into Creative Capitalism: John Quiggin
• Appendix
• Contributors