We all have a friend (perhaps you are the friend) who conveniently uses capitalism as the prevailing reasons for all of societies woes. Why blame poverty on dozens of complex historical, political, cultural and geographical causes when we can just point our finger at someone driving a BMW and say “It’s their fault”?

Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World (Bloomsbury Press, $18) forces us to put down our hacky sacks and copies of Adbusters and open our eyes to one simple truth: capitalism could be our savior. As much as we love to hate Microsoft, Bill Gates’ money has arguably saved more lives than any nonprofit in history.

In Philanthrocapitalism, available in paperback this week with a new foreword by Former President Bill Clinton, authors Matthew Bishop and Michael Green provide dozens of examples of successful for-profit businesses that are paying as much attention to reforming education and eradicating poverty and disease as they are to making a profit. The book begins by giving readers an abridged history of charitable giving in Europe and the United States and examining some of the biggest donors in modern history.

The authors point out how traditionally we have had three sectors: government, for-profit and nonprofit. We’ve always expected government and nonprofits to feed starving children and save kittens from trees. Sometimes the for-profit sector will throw us a bone in the form of charitable donations, but it has never been part of their business strategy to give back to the community. Until now.

The book presents several interesting case studies of companies such as Google, Participant Media (full disclosure: Participant Media owns and operates TakePart.com), Microsoft, eBay and many more who are beginning to use their expertise and knowledge of financial markets, technology and supply chain management to amass vast amounts of money to throw at our most pressing social issues.

Philanthrocapitalism inspires us to look at big business as an ally instead of an enemy.  The profit motive is a powerful one, and Bishop and Green eloquently describe how companies are harnessing its power not for evil, but for good.

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Visit philanthrocapitalism.net for more information on the book and upcoming appearances by the authors.