Interview with Pierre Omidyar at Web 2.0 Conference

Podcast here.  A lot more in Pierre of Adam Smith than Aristotle or Jesus. Will Pierre mature? Or is this a taste of what "philanthropy" will mean as our high tech people, relatively innocent of the liberal arts, or familial traditions of public service, impose a venture capital framework on all they do? My thought is that micro-loan-sharking is not philanthropy, even if the role of Rocky Balboa is played by Tufts University, and even if you can undercut the local loan sharks by a few percentage points.  Ask yourself, if you took away Pierre's name and billions, are the self-satisfied views he presents here worth a Tinker's Curse. I doubt he could get a B- from any decent professor in politics, philosophy or economics. The talk is shot through with streaks of naivete to rival Candide - like saying that the measure of a venture's profit is simulateneously a good shorthand for its positive social impact. By that measure, Phillip Morris is a social venture and so is Halliburton.  Then, again, Pierre is very rich, and so I am very likely mistaken. If I were so smart, I would be rich.  As Adam Smith showed, the rich bear it away.