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Philanthrocapitalism

Mike Edwards — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:30:23 -0500

Readers who still have an interest in the philanthrocapitalism debate might be interested in a new summary of responses to my book "Just another Emperor?" on openDemocracy, which cites NextBillion.net and the internal shifts taking place inside the BoP community. Hre's the link: http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/philanthrocapitalism-the-myths-and-realities-of-the-myths-and-realities

Philanthrocapitalism

Matthew Bishop — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:56:45 -0400

The problem with critiques of philanthrocapitalism is that they try to pigeon-hole this movement, sometimes as an obsession with performance metrics, sometimes as an obsession with market-based for-profit solutions. While these are both techniques applied by some of the new donors, when I coined the phrase in The Economist in 2006, I saw philanthrocapitalism as a much more diverse movement - indeed, one that’s as diverse as capitalism itself, as I describe in my new book written with Michael Green, Philanthrocapitalism: how the rich can save the world. Take Sir John Templeton, who died earlier this week. Just as he made his fortune in business by taking big risky bets at “points of maximum pessimism”, such as buying European shares at the start of World War 2, so in philanthropy he bet big on the greatest intangible of all, God. No metrics, no market-based solutions here, yet he was applying his philosophy of business to his philanthropy and thus was a philanthrocapitalist just as much as Bill Gates. This diversity of approaches also means that a group of philanthrocapitalists are directly addressing the social and political issues that Edwards claims they ignore. George Soros has won a legion of enemies at home and abroad by promoting democracy and political change. Mo Ibrahim is trying to force a step change in political leadership in Africa with his prize for politicians who deliver for the people. Bono, with funding from Gates and Soros among others, has led a huge social movement to campaign for more aid for Africa. And so on. That is not to say that everything the philanthrocapitalists do will succeed. There will be many failures: as Warren Buffett has pointed out, philanthropy is a “tougher game” than making money. Philanthrocapitalists will need to be at their best: innovative, thoughtful, analytical, driven, collaborative and, as there is no simple benchmark for success in philanthropy that equates with profit in the business world, brutally honest and self-critical about how they are doing. Here’s hoping they succeed.

Many Paths...

Jon Camfield — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:43:49 -0400

This is an excellent and levelheaded response. I think it reminds us all that the market is both a key actor in poverty reduction, but not the only actor, there's a lot of work to be done and "we" should welcome anyone interested in helping. Further, the work should be done with collaboration and mutual assistance in mind (there are comparative advantages among different aid approaches). I've written a bit more on this in response here: tml...

Philanthrocapitalism

Michael Edwards — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:39:09 -0400

Thanks Derek, by coincidence the Global Philanthropy Forum started another online debate about "Just Another Emperor?" today on their website: https://www.philanthropyforum.org/forum/Discussion_Forum1.asp It's definitely worth checking out. I put a similar link to your site there. Here's to a rousing conversation from which all of us will benefit! Mike Edwards

A Dialogue on Philanthrocapitalism: "Just Another Emperor" Reviewed

Derek Newberry — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:38:31 -0400

"The profit motive could be the best tool for solving the world's problems, more effective than any government or private philanthropy,"

-Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison's bravado makes Michael Edwards mad. Similar quotes highlight the introductory section of Edwards' new book, Just Another Emperor. Throughout his book, and in related articles published by the Financial Times and OpenDemocracy.net, Edwards makes it clear that he is tired of pro-market hype - and he doesn't want you to buy into it. Edwards takes aim at the market-based principles of development underlying the base of the pyramid (BoP) perspective and even mentions BoP movement leaders by name.

Here at NextBillion.net, we've followed Edwards' work closely. Having read his book and articles, our cadre of Staff Writers has decided to offer a sampling of our thoughts in response to Edwards' ideas. In this and five subsequent posts, NextBillion staff will offer our own personal perspectives on Edwards' diatribe against what he calls "philanthrocapitalism." Today, I'll kick off this dialogue with my own review of Just Another Emperor.

In Just Another Emperor (2008, published by Demos and the Young Foundation), Edwards, a Director at the Ford Foundation, targets what he calls "Philanthrocapitalism" for critique. This is a philosophy that he defines as being based on the belief that business approaches to social problems are superior to approaches traditionally advanced by the government and civil society and that these approaches have the unique ability to create transformational social change.

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