Two things
caught my eye recently, both of which should help give a little perspective to
those anti-capitalists that are constantly bemoaning how unequal the world is
and how the super rich make life a lot less fair. Even if we ignore the most
obvious point they're missing - which is that to generate wealth you need to
get people to part with their money voluntarily by providing them with
something they want or need, which means creating value in society - there are
two other important things to consider.
In the
first place, as this article points out nicely
- far from being the ugly fat cats that keep millions of people poor,
entrepreneurs are actually the real saving graces. We are told we need 600
million new jobs in the next decade to fully employ the world’s eligible
workforce, and entrepreneurs and big businesses are the top creators of new
jobs, providing 70% of all new jobs in the world, and up to 90% in some
emerging economies. Entrepreneurs may be very wealthy, but they are the main
drivers of economic growth and the most important players in increasing global
prosperity.
In the
second place, as this article points out nicely
- entrepreneurs do an awful lot with the money they make in terms of generous
donations to noble causes. Just the top 5 of the world's most generous
charitable donors (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Azim Premji, and
Charles Feeney) have donated over $70 billion thus far, with doubtless much
more to come.
So the next time you read
that the super rich are the selfish wealth hoarders that need to be brought down,
and that entrepreneurs are the ones having a damaging effect on poorer
countries' economic growth, the reality that they are the primary job creators
and the most generous benefactors might hopefully serve you well in re-examining
your perception of them, and of the market in general, if you are one of those
to whom that applies.
