Building Social Business: The kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs

Muhammad Yunus, the practical visionary who pioneered microcredit and, with his Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has developed a visionary new dimension for capitalism which he calls 'social business'.

The worldwide economic crisis has exposed the failures of unfettered capitalism more starkly than at any time since the Great Depression. By channelling the energy of profit-making while addressing pressing human needs, social business offers a powerful alternative to traditional capitalism – one that creates self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth even as they produce goods and services that make the world a better place.

Yunus visits the RSA to show how social business has gone from being a theory to an inspiring practice, adopted by leading corporations, entrepreneurs and social activists across the world. Yunus demonstrates how social business transforms lives; explains how public and corporate policies must adapt to make room for the social business model; and shows why social business holds the potential to redeem the failed promise of free-market enterprise.

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsayunus