Posted on 09/26/2008 1:37:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton warned rich countries on Friday that they should not learn the "wrong lesson" from the financial crisis and said it can be profitable to help the poor.
While Congress debated a $700 billion bailout to save the U.S. financial system, Clinton said as he wrapped up his philanthropic summit that the turmoil could also be seen as an opportunity to invest in developing nations.
He warned governments to avoid just "looking inward" as they sought to fix the financial system.
"The people who have these microcredit operations, who are investing in poor people around the world where there was no market and you create one because there are smart people, they are not the cause of these financial problems," he said.
"They are all making money in the old-fashioned way, with a real economy based on real people doing real things for a real rate of return," Clinton said to applause at his fourth annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting.
Microfinance initiatives, which grant tiny loans to the poor, are separate from national economic and market trends. They have also been much less affected than conventional lenders by the global credit crunch.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York September 26, 2008. Established by Clinton in 2005, the event is designed to bring donors together with people in need to try to solve global problems. (Chip East/Reuters)
I agree. Clinton should take his own money and go spread it around to help the poor. He doesn’t need lots of money to live on. I don’t think he needs more than about 150k per year. That’s a lot of money to most people. So, anything over that he should give to the poor. You go Bill!
susie
I agree with him on one point: if you are a democrat, it can be profitable (for individual dems and the DNC) to help the poor.
think ACORN, Obama’s friends that ran fanny/freddie, jesse jackson shake down, etc.
Talk about stating the obvious.
Of course, it is profitable only to the welfare bureaucrat and the welfare distribution industry, and politicians, of course..
The taxpayer, on the other hand, gets screwed..
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