Can Businesses Actually Do Some Social Good?

Technology and new market models are chipping away at the old idea that the government is the sole-solution provider to social problems, argues William Eggers, co-author of the new book The Solution Revolution: How Business, Government, and Social Enterprises are Teaming up to Solve Society's Toughest Problems.

As Eggers explains, whether it's new ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft or established corporations like Coca-Cola funding clean water abroad, "companies are finding that they actually can create a mutual advantage between solving problems and making a profit."

Eggers, a former Reason Foundation scholar, sat down with Reason TV's Nick Gillespie to discuss the growth of socially conscious businesses, the importance of multi-sector problem solving, and the hurdles some of these new market-oriented solutions are facing.

"Most of the models we discuss in the book are disruptive models," Eggers explains. "And when you have disruption you always have the current regime fighting back."

About 10 minutes.

Camera by Joshua Swain and Amanda Winkler. Edited by Winkler. 

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.