Bill Gates has begun writing an annual letter, as Warren Buffett does, representing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to communicate what he has learned in the previous year, and to begin a dialogue to draw new ideas to making the world a better place.
He discussed the letter in an interview with the Economist. This article reports on his interview with the magazine.
Criticism of Gates for Overemphasis on Technology
Critics have said that Gates is overly focused on technology as a solution to world problems, as if it were a “magic bullet”; better technologies will not benefit poor people if those people do not receive the technologies.
Benefits of Technology
Gates responds that technology must be adapted to meet the needs of its intended recipients. Choosing to discuss medicine, he notes that the technology can take into account problems resulting from a lack of electricity and trained personnel to deliver the medicine to the people, partnering with the recipients to overcome problems.
Gates cites the statistic that between 1960 and the present day, the number of children’s deaths has dropped from 20 million per year to 10 million per year, a fifty percent decrease he credits to technology.
Foundation Undemocratic?
Responding to criticism that, as a private individual, he wields too much power in civil society through his philanthropy, Gates asserts that his foundation, freed from the constraints of government restrictions, can devote resources to avenues which are riskier and under-noticed as resources for aid, e.g. the intended development of a malaria vaccine.
Even as he maintains the utility of this independence, Gates advocates transparency, so that governments can decide to support the endeavors of the foundation, as well as providing valuable feedback.
Climate Change and the World’s Poorest Countries
Gates discussed climate change, describing the positions of different countries as posturing, when the poorest people, those in tropical regions, will suffer the greatest effects of climate change, such as hurricanes, droughts, and increased temperatures. The wealthiest countries will feel the least effects of climate change, despite having created the majority of the Carbon Dioxide emissions which have precipitated the change.
Upcoming Davos Forum and Gates’ Role
When asked about his role in the upcoming Davos forum, where world leaders will meet to discuss remedies to the current financial crisis, and specifically regarding criticism of Davos’ choice to invite leaders whose decisions have in some cases led to the financial crisis, Gates responded that he felt the gains made during the recent boom period in the economy, e.g. increases in the numbers of individuals receiving a college education and those certified as engineers, will outlast the strictures which will be placed on individuals as a result of the financial crisis.
Prediction of Duration of Recession
Gates predicts that the financial crisis will be over not in two years, but definitely in five years. He predicts that individuals will not return to their original levels of spending for several years, and many are delaying major investments, such as buying a home. He discounts the possible impact of a government stimulus in job creation (in such areas as education, health care, etc.), because the private sector will not respond by hiring more people.
The Future of Foreign Aid, and the Benefit of High Profile Help
When asked about the potential limiting of foreign aid in light of the financial crisis, as Joe Biden mentioned in the 2009 Vice Presidential Debate, Gates said that he does not anticipate that aid will decrease substantially, although he does foresee a reduction in growth of aid. His foundation has increased its aid in the past year, one of few foundations to do so. He took it as a credit to the Foundation’s efforts that both Obama and McCain spoke about Malaria during the campaign, the first time that a global health issue has been mentioned in presidential election.
