NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Many books have addressed the “bottom of the pyramid” in developing countries like India – how big companies can tap the cumulative spending power of the impoverished masses.

But John Hope Bryant, founder and CEOnonprofit Operation HOPE, believes there is a tidal wave of economic potential waiting to be unleashed in the back streets of America.

The problem is that poverty has been treated as a purely financial problem that can be solved with charity or savvy policies, when it’s really a deeper issue woven into personal aspirations and the social fabric of communities.