Who could create a house for $300 and if it was possible, why hadn't it been done before?

Nonetheless, they closed their blog with a challenge: “We ask chief executives, governments, NGOs, foundations: Are there any takers?”

“Of course, the idea we present here is an experiment,” wrote Prof Govindarajan, a professor of international business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and Mr. Sarkar, a marketing consultant who works on environmental issues - an almost apologetic disclaimer for having such a “far-out” idea.

When Vijay Govindarajan and Christian Sarkar wrote a blog entry on Harvard Business Review in August 2010 mooting the idea of a “$300-house for the poor”, they were merely expressing a suggestion.