Events Detail

William Easterly and Allen Hammond

Transcript Now Available! Click here (PDF format, 29 pages, 218 KB)

A complete, edited transcript is now available of the panel discussion on January 30 co-hosted by Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal and Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity entitled:

"Creative Capitalism":

Can It Meet the Needs of the World's Poor?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Hudson Institute - Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center - 1015 15th Street, NW - Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005

Event Description

Noting in his recent address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that “we have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier serve poorer people as well,” Microsoft’s Bill Gates called for a new system of “creative capitalism” -- “an approach where governments, businesses, and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities.”

Others are not so certain that development pursued by well-meaning experts working from the top down can ever make a dent in world poverty. Long-time critic of international aid WILLIAM EASTERLY, for instance, argues that: “We don’t know what actions achieve development, our advice and aid don’t make those actions happen even if we knew what they were, and we are not even sure who ‘we’ are that is supposed to achieve development.”

Can Bill Gates’ “creative capitalism” make significant inroads against world poverty? That question was addressed by Easterly along with Urban Institute Senior Fellow EUGENE STEUERLE and ALLEN HAMMOND, vice president for innovation at the World Resources Institute. Hudson Institute's WILLIAM SCHAMBRA, director of Hudson's Bradley Center, moderated the discussion.

Program and Panel

11:45 a.m.
Registration, lunch buffet

12:00 p.m.
Welcome by Hudson Institute's WILLIAM SCHAMBRA

12:10
Panel discussion
WILLIAM EASTERLY, Brookings Institution and New York University
EUGENE STEUERLE, The Urban Institute
ALLEN HAMMOND, World Resources Institute

1:10
Question-and-answer session

2:00
Adjournment

To Request Further Information

To request further information on this event or the Bradley Center, please contact Kristen McIntyre at (202) 974-2424 or kmcintyre@hudson.org. For more information on the Center for Global Prosperity, please contact Samantha Grayson at samantha@hudson.org.