Stumble it!

It takes a very special individual to stimulate an economy all by himself. Bill Gates however, may just be that special individual. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Gates attempted to inject some optimism into economic leaders who were lacking both moral and faith that the global economy could elude the recession close at hand. The Microsoft co-founder attempted to lead by example when he announced that the Bill and Malinda Gates Fund would be donating $306 million to African countries in need. While the Gates Fund has primarily advocated proper health care in under developed nations, this latest donation has been ear marked for agriculture. Gates believes that governments and non-profit organizations, working co-operatively with third world countries, will stimulate poverty stricken communities and will lead to technological ingenuity that will benefit global economies as a whole. While the impending recession hangs threateningly over the heads of Americans, there are examples of corporations whose fortunes are excitingly high at the moment. Microsoft has posted an incredible 16.4 billion in earnings for its second business quarter, surpassing its previous all time high by over 2 billion. Not all those present shared Gates’ optimism however. Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s Finance Minister, cautioned that an economic slowdown would be disastrous for India and other developing countries. “A slowdown is a precursor to a recession and I think that is worrying,” he said. The discussions in Switzerland also touched upon terrorism, most notably Iran, the worry of manipulated elections in Pakistan and a host of other global predicaments. While there are many skeptics who project an almost world wide depression over the next few years, Microsoft has become a glowing endorsement of sound business and monetary decision making. Microsoft has surpassed almost every expectation that Wall Street and the business community predicted. 100 million licenses of Vista in the open market, four different Xbox titles with over a million copies sold and tremendous growth in Windows Server and SQL Server products. Microsoft has also experienced stellar growth abroad in countries like Russia, China and India. Perhaps it is time the rest of the U.S economy to pay closer attention to what Microsoft is doing.