Page 18 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.73, # 2, 2016, pp. 4-20

beginning of a great story. It will snowball if the result produced by social
businesses is convincing.
It is all about taking initiative. It may begin with one pension fund in one city.
No matter how small the response, it opens up a door which may get wider over
time. But a beginning has to be made. We have no reason to hide behind our age-old
conviction that investors are interested in nothing but making money. They see
nothing else, and hear nothing else. We must remain aware that the world and
people are changing. They have started to have differently. Their behavioral pattern
will continue to undergo changes.
Money generated from the recoverable endowment fund borne out of pension
funds can be invested in taking care of all old people, from the richest to the poorest,
with differentiated prices. It will create social businesses to provide health insurance,
health facilities like hospitals, clinics, nursing services, income opportunities,
hospice care, old peoples home, housing, sports, travel etc.

Social Business Day
Whenever people look for ways to bring down the wealth-gap they will find
social business as a very powerful tool to make it happen. Social business will slow
down the process of accumulation at the top while people at the bottom will build up
their asset base and retain whatever they earn.
We can play our role too. All of us can examine the concept to see if it makes
sense. Each one of us can come up with social business ideas. Idea is the most
precious thing in social business. Each one of us can decide to invest in social
business directly or through others who are involved in it. We can earmark 5% of
our annual income and put it in a separate account, sort of personal social business
fund, to invest in social businesses. To give a simple idea, anyone can transform 5,
10, 25 or more unemployed youth into entrepreneurs. We can show you how we are
doing it. You may like it. We hold a big event Social Business Day each year. This
year it will be held on July 28-29. In addition to sessions devoted to exchanging
experiences in social businesses throughout the world, we will hold Country Forums
to let the delegates from each country exclusively country-wise sessions to discuss
plans for social businesses in their own countries. They will bring business leaders,
political leaders, academics, foundation leaders, to participate in these country
forums.
You may like to think about what you can do in slowing down wealth
concentration. You can play a role in reducing wealth gap with some simple steps.
Think about creating your own "giving pledge" or create a collective giving pledge
with your friends and your business partners. You may decide to make a "will" now,
to leave most of your wealth or at-least half of your wealth during your life time, to

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