Channeling Free Market Enterprise to Help Poor

Paul Catipon, CEO of Netpro, gave a talk at the United Nations on behalf of private enterprise and said that for-profit businesses, due to their efficiency and capacities, can do much more good in society than nonprofit organizations (NGOs) if they just commit themself to do so. Business is the most powerful force in society, and so its power to solve our societal problems is immense.

Discussion Questions

1. Milton Friedman once said that business managers should not try to solve societal issues in part because they are not experts at social welfare and Adam Smith seems to have said something similar. Can you think of examples you know of where companies have spearheaded or supported socially beneficial projects which have seen great success?
2. Socialism sees the state as the main vehicle of taking care of the needs of its citizens. Do you think that a Capitalist system also expects the state to do that, or is this something better done by private companies?
3. What is an initiative to solve a public problem which you can imagine would be better addressed by private enterprise than the government? What would it look like and how easy would it be?