It appears Gates is ignoring the global spread of free-market capitalism that has successfully lifted hundreds of millions of people up from poverty and into the middle class over the last decade or so. Think China. Think India. Think Eastern Europe (and maybe even France under Sarkozy). Gates wants business leaders to dedicate more time to fighting poverty. But the reality is that economic freedom is the best path to prosperity. Period.
The Heritage/WSJ 2008 Index of Economic Freedom clearly shows that free-market countries are prospering mightily. Per capita GDP is closely related to, and positively correlated with, market economies. The fact is that free-market economics is spreading like wildfire. State socialism is on the decline. Unsurprisingly, the study also shows that the least-free economies are mired in poverty. We're talking North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran, and others.
This does not make any sense: Mr. Kudlov, who wrote this article for NRO is replying to non-existing arguments. Gates did not favor non-free economies, therefore there is absolutely NO REASON to mention Cuba and North Korea. Moreover, Gates did not argue benefits of free markets, why bring in China, India and Eastern Europe? Gates merely says "capitalism is great let's see if we can make it work better for the poor". Gates isn't even hinting that it should be done at someone's expense. Basically Kidlov did not even care to read the original article.
Thus, after removing these obviously misplaced sentences and paragraphs, NRO's article basically turns into a lonely link to WSJ without any corresponding commentary.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWI5ZDVjODBkZDI2YWM...
Excerpt:
It appears Gates is ignoring the global spread of free-market capitalism that has successfully lifted hundreds of millions of people up from poverty and into the middle class over the last decade or so. Think China. Think India. Think Eastern Europe (and maybe even France under Sarkozy). Gates wants business leaders to dedicate more time to fighting poverty. But the reality is that economic freedom is the best path to prosperity. Period.
The Heritage/WSJ 2008 Index of Economic Freedom clearly shows that free-market countries are prospering mightily. Per capita GDP is closely related to, and positively correlated with, market economies. The fact is that free-market economics is spreading like wildfire. State socialism is on the decline. Unsurprisingly, the study also shows that the least-free economies are mired in poverty. We're talking North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran, and others.