NEWS WIRE: New York: Former President Clinton States Avoid Wrong Crisis Lesson, Invest in Poor

Source: Reuters.

Original news wire available here.

New York, September 26 – Former U.S. 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 USD 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.

“Poor people in poor countries, well governed, are good investments,” Clinton said. More than 130 chief executives have spent the past three days mixing with world leaders, humanitarians and celebrities at the summit, which addresses global issues in education, energy and climate change, health care and poverty.

Experts have said the financial crisis would likely pressure charitable efforts by individuals and corporations. Clinton said 250 new commitments to address some of the world’s problems were made at his 2008 summit. This takes the total number made during the past four years to nearly 1,200, which Clinton said were valued at a total of USD 46 billion and would improve more than 200 million lives in 150 countries.

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