Capitalism and Social Benefits




The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a $43.5 billion endowment that has made sizable grants over the years in third world countries with the primary concern of addressing health.  Other grants made by the foundation have been aimed at advancing education, agriculture, and finance.  A recent New York Times article explained how the foundation has been making exciting strides by expanding its commitment to direct equity investments, and this is run separately from the foundation itself under what it calls program-related investments.

The company recently made a hefty investment of about $52 million dollars in a company called CureVac that is backed by Dietmar Hopp who is co founder of SAP.  According to the article CureVac, "has been developing a technology that uses the biomolecule mRNA to give the body instructions for creating its own proteins to fight cancer and infectious diseases."  The foundation is committed to making sure that is technology is made widely available to those in the third world.  This is an example of venture capital that could see results in combating diseases that disproportionally effect the impoverished people of the globe.


Bill Gates, the founder and head figure of Microsoft, is the single richest man in the world.  It is encouraging to see that the world's wealthiest man is seemingly very altruistic.  The foundation is not only very charitable but is engaging in private sector investments with the intention of achieving financial and social benefits. The foundation is shedding light on the relatively new fields of ethical investing and social entrepreneurship.

One of the most important questions of the 20th century was, "What is better for humanity, capitalism or socialism?"  Having the luxury of hindsight, I think it's quite evident from the history of that century that capitalism is the overall victor in terms of important measurements such as economic growth, individual liberty, and the well being of people.  But because capitalism is the highly preferable economic system, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find creative ways to deal with global inequities that socialist proletariat revolution claimed it could resolve.  Free market solutions, such as direct equity investments with the intention of providing financial and social gains is a model for the future and it should be admired and emulated.  The Gates foundation did not create these ideas but their contributions are important and should be noted.
















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