Use creative capitalism to help the poor: Gates

Microsoft entrepreneur and world’s richest man Bill Gates has called for a reconstruction of capitalism so its creative force is channeled towards helping the needs of the world’s poor, the Wall Street Journal Online reports.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates said while he still believed capitalism is the best economic system, changes need to be made so that advances in technology, health care and education flow through to the poor as well as the rich.

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

Gates says he wants to see entrepreneurs start thinking about ways they can build businesses that will help lift living standards in developing countries while making a profit.

And, as Gates approaches retirement from his leading role at Microsoft this year, he clearly sees a role for himself spurring companies into action. “The idea that you encourage companies to take their innovative thinkers and think about the most needy – even beyond the market opportunities. That’s something that appropriately ought to be done,” he said.