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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I've given myself the challenge of reading more non-fiction books and with books like these around it's proving a lot less difficult than I feared! This was a very inspirational read about how the Grameen Bank got started by Muhammad Yunus and what has happened along the way (until 1998). It provides a complelling case for credit as a human right and a strong belief that poor people know what to do with their lives and will know what to do when provided with a loan. Yunus is very critical of a lot of charities, and based on what he's describing you can see where he's coming from. It is pretty incredible what Grameen Bank have done in Bangladesh and around the world and I do fancy reading some more about the journeys.
As a professor of economics at Chittagong University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus witnessed first hand the devastating poverty, disease, and death associated with the famine in 1974. He grew frustrated with the disconnect between the ivory tower of the university and the people dying right next door in the village of Jopra. He decided to take his students right into the village and study poverty. "I wanted to teach my university students how to understand the life of one single poor person."
Yunus tells the story of how he founded Grameen Bank, beginning with the $27 he lent a group of 42 villagers. The book is a combination of memoir (with a bit of personal history) and the story of the bank's evolution.
He has definite ideas on government assistance and poverty intervention; he believes that microlending is the best way out of poverty rather than welfare or charity. I found the book to be very thought provoking. The vast majority of the loans Grameen gives are to women (I believe around 97%). Yunus defends this practice against Muslim clerics and conservatives who feel this is inappropriate. What I liked about Yunus' approach is that he designed a simple way to reach the poorest of the poor--not the farmers in the fields, but the villagers who didn't have land or the basic materials to make a living.
The beginning of the book was the best--he talks about the growth of the bank and the refining of their processes. I also liked the personal stories of real-life bank members as well as the bank employees. The second half was not as captivating, as he talks about the expansion of Grameen. Overall, however, I found the book inspiring and interesting.
Yunus tells the story of how he founded Grameen Bank, beginning with the $27 he lent a group of 42 villagers. The book is a combination of memoir (with a bit of personal history) and the story of the bank's evolution.
He has definite ideas on government assistance and poverty intervention; he believes that microlending is the best way out of poverty rather than welfare or charity. I found the book to be very thought provoking. The vast majority of the loans Grameen gives are to women (I believe around 97%). Yunus defends this practice against Muslim clerics and conservatives who feel this is inappropriate. What I liked about Yunus' approach is that he designed a simple way to reach the poorest of the poor--not the farmers in the fields, but the villagers who didn't have land or the basic materials to make a living.
The beginning of the book was the best--he talks about the growth of the bank and the refining of their processes. I also liked the personal stories of real-life bank members as well as the bank employees. The second half was not as captivating, as he talks about the expansion of Grameen. Overall, however, I found the book inspiring and interesting.
People.. were poor not because they were stupid or lazy. They worked all day long, doing complex physical tasks. They were poor because the financial institution in the country did not help them widen their economic base.
- Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the poor
.
.
If you want to know how Muhammad Yunus got the Nobel Peace Prize, then this book is the answer. A true champion of poor people in his country, Bangladesh - Muhammad Yunus found a way to beat the financial system rigidity. Grameen Bank which the name itself meant ‘Rural/Village Bank’ serve as an alternative financial institution to provide loan and assistance for people in the lower income class. Rather than having one track minded view that poor people are lazy or they are not be able to pay back because they don’t have a collateral or assets, Muhammad Yunus built the institution whereby the foundation is based on trust. He trusted those borrowers to pay back weekly once they started making money. Just like that, the micro credit system is being born. Of course, when he try to do good and serve people without any hidden intention, people will doubt him at first. The other established Banks refused to grant the capital, Government refused to endorse and approved the project as the benefits of the program is at that time still vague and unclear. Ignorance and blind leading the blind seems prevalent in a rural area as Muhammad Yunus and His Grameen Bank Staffs even encounter few ‘Mullah’discouraging people to borrow from Grameen Bank as it will convert the borrowers to other religion or becoming a slave trade and other baseless accusations. However, this does not kill his spirit. Instead, he employed more people to work for his bank, to reach out to more impoverished community and offer them the loan so that they can lift themselves out of poverty. He wanted more people to be aware that Grameen Bank is different from conventional bank and money lender. Grameen Bank will not hijack the price or increase the interest and the profit that the borrowers made is 100% belonged to them. What Gramen Bank is only for their commitment to pay back the loan on the weekly basis. After few improvement and changes has been made on the system, the Grameen Bank officially take off in the West, North, East and South of Bangladesh. At the same time, many countries including Malaysia and Philipines decided to embark on their own micro credit program following the what Muhammad Yunus has successfully done in his country. Initially, World Bank decided to take credit on this program despite having no contribution on its humble beginning but
Muhammad Yunus did not let it slide. He openly criticize World Bank for not doing their job right and most programs developed by World Bank eventually benefitted the rich at the expense of poor people. One particular part that i love about this book is He understood the benefits of having more female borrowers. In the rural area whereby most women practiced a strict religious values, they often wear veils and didnt talk to strangers especially men. This definitely imposed a challenge in reaching out to more women. Besides that, in a conservative society where most of the money/financial matters is handled by the men. It is unheard of at that time for women to handle money let alone borrow it from strangers. Using female employees to attract these women to borrow and at the same time excel in whatever they wanted to do either farming, basket weaving, milk selling and so on seems to work like a charm eventually. Now they managed to help their husband bringing in the money into the household. There are women whose a domestic abuse victims / divorcees and beggars able to get back up and earn their own money thanks to the Grameen Bank. What started as a vision to help people just so they are not starving to death due to not having job / money , His project has become a full fledged institution that granted assistance so that people can empower themselves and eventually cross the poverty line. I have never felt so inspired after reading a book for a while, at least. The moment when Muhammad Yunus who is also an educator echoed the sentiment that what is the point of all of these economic theories that i teach but i cant use it to help my people, i truly resonated with that. Overall, a highly recommended book. Since it’s Ramadhan, you might as well read it right away. Understand, Be aware and empathetic towards people’s plight. We are not the same. Each of us are in different boats. Last but not least, Be kind.
- Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the poor
.
.
If you want to know how Muhammad Yunus got the Nobel Peace Prize, then this book is the answer. A true champion of poor people in his country, Bangladesh - Muhammad Yunus found a way to beat the financial system rigidity. Grameen Bank which the name itself meant ‘Rural/Village Bank’ serve as an alternative financial institution to provide loan and assistance for people in the lower income class. Rather than having one track minded view that poor people are lazy or they are not be able to pay back because they don’t have a collateral or assets, Muhammad Yunus built the institution whereby the foundation is based on trust. He trusted those borrowers to pay back weekly once they started making money. Just like that, the micro credit system is being born. Of course, when he try to do good and serve people without any hidden intention, people will doubt him at first. The other established Banks refused to grant the capital, Government refused to endorse and approved the project as the benefits of the program is at that time still vague and unclear. Ignorance and blind leading the blind seems prevalent in a rural area as Muhammad Yunus and His Grameen Bank Staffs even encounter few ‘Mullah’discouraging people to borrow from Grameen Bank as it will convert the borrowers to other religion or becoming a slave trade and other baseless accusations. However, this does not kill his spirit. Instead, he employed more people to work for his bank, to reach out to more impoverished community and offer them the loan so that they can lift themselves out of poverty. He wanted more people to be aware that Grameen Bank is different from conventional bank and money lender. Grameen Bank will not hijack the price or increase the interest and the profit that the borrowers made is 100% belonged to them. What Gramen Bank is only for their commitment to pay back the loan on the weekly basis. After few improvement and changes has been made on the system, the Grameen Bank officially take off in the West, North, East and South of Bangladesh. At the same time, many countries including Malaysia and Philipines decided to embark on their own micro credit program following the what Muhammad Yunus has successfully done in his country. Initially, World Bank decided to take credit on this program despite having no contribution on its humble beginning but
Muhammad Yunus did not let it slide. He openly criticize World Bank for not doing their job right and most programs developed by World Bank eventually benefitted the rich at the expense of poor people. One particular part that i love about this book is He understood the benefits of having more female borrowers. In the rural area whereby most women practiced a strict religious values, they often wear veils and didnt talk to strangers especially men. This definitely imposed a challenge in reaching out to more women. Besides that, in a conservative society where most of the money/financial matters is handled by the men. It is unheard of at that time for women to handle money let alone borrow it from strangers. Using female employees to attract these women to borrow and at the same time excel in whatever they wanted to do either farming, basket weaving, milk selling and so on seems to work like a charm eventually. Now they managed to help their husband bringing in the money into the household. There are women whose a domestic abuse victims / divorcees and beggars able to get back up and earn their own money thanks to the Grameen Bank. What started as a vision to help people just so they are not starving to death due to not having job / money , His project has become a full fledged institution that granted assistance so that people can empower themselves and eventually cross the poverty line. I have never felt so inspired after reading a book for a while, at least. The moment when Muhammad Yunus who is also an educator echoed the sentiment that what is the point of all of these economic theories that i teach but i cant use it to help my people, i truly resonated with that. Overall, a highly recommended book. Since it’s Ramadhan, you might as well read it right away. Understand, Be aware and empathetic towards people’s plight. We are not the same. Each of us are in different boats. Last but not least, Be kind.
This book was really inspiring. Listening to how he started Grameen Bank was very captivating. It's mixed with some good facts but also has a good deal of personal thoughts that are good to read.
My face to face book club is reading this one for May. I'll say this for it, I never would have picked this book up on my own.
On the plus side, Yunus' passion for eradicating poverty does come through, and I think he is the real deal. He has worked with many politicians and philanthropists, and he names names. As an economist, he is good at explaining what could have been complex concepts and bringing them down to terms that are very understandable and clear. I admire his devotion to working with the poor in a way that is very respectful and preserving of their dignity. It really is a tale of what one man can do to make change, and in that regard, it is extremely compelling.
On the less good side, while the book was a fast read, it also was somewhat boring. I mean how interesting can you make a book about loans be? The answer - - not very. I sort of felt that the book lacked some soul, but I really forgive Yunus because you can't make the truth be something that it isn't. The truth is that if you loan very poor people some money, some industrious ones will develop a cottage industry that is enough to ensure that they eat and that they have a roof over their heads. And in Bangladesh, that's saying a lot. But it isn't really a rags to riches story . . .it's more like a rags to better rags story.
Yunus also feels compelled to share many numerical specifics - - and frankly I think that is appropriate because it lends substance to his book. It's also - - not that interesting.
On the plus side, Yunus' passion for eradicating poverty does come through, and I think he is the real deal. He has worked with many politicians and philanthropists, and he names names. As an economist, he is good at explaining what could have been complex concepts and bringing them down to terms that are very understandable and clear. I admire his devotion to working with the poor in a way that is very respectful and preserving of their dignity. It really is a tale of what one man can do to make change, and in that regard, it is extremely compelling.
On the less good side, while the book was a fast read, it also was somewhat boring. I mean how interesting can you make a book about loans be? The answer - - not very. I sort of felt that the book lacked some soul, but I really forgive Yunus because you can't make the truth be something that it isn't. The truth is that if you loan very poor people some money, some industrious ones will develop a cottage industry that is enough to ensure that they eat and that they have a roof over their heads. And in Bangladesh, that's saying a lot. But it isn't really a rags to riches story . . .it's more like a rags to better rags story.
Yunus also feels compelled to share many numerical specifics - - and frankly I think that is appropriate because it lends substance to his book. It's also - - not that interesting.
And there is the fact that he has a certain air of self importance that while it may be justified is still slightly annoying.
So all in all, he takes a tough-to-write about topic and does a good enough job with it to publish a book the mainstream public can enjoy. That's pretty impressive. And my hat is off to him for the good he has done for poverty stricken people worldwide.
Yunus has some excellent ideas in here about the causes and solutions for poverty. I found his structural arguments for the reasons for poverty to be compelling, especially when combined with numerous narrative examples. I will be pulling out a number of his quotes and stories to share with my Diversity and Social Justice classes this spring. While he does use discuss some complex (at least they felt that way to an non-economics reader) topics related to banking, I never felt as thought I couldn't at least follow the edges of his conversation. I left the book feeling hopeful that social entrepreneurs can fight against the systems that keep families in cycles of poverty. At the same time, it will be a fight against ingrained, almost invisible, systemic privilege. A fight well worth fighting.
Recommended for: people passionate about social justice, people interested in creative methods for solving problems, anyone who loves Bangladesh
Recommended for: people passionate about social justice, people interested in creative methods for solving problems, anyone who loves Bangladesh
by the recent Nobel Prize winner Muhamad Yunus
founder of the Grameen Bank
On Pages 140 - 147, Dr. Yunus describes setting up the Tangail branch of Grameen bank, and how the terrorist situation made it very dangerous. In the end the presence of the bank directly contributed to the safety and lessening of terrorist activity in that province.
Elsewhere he mentions that job applicants in Bangladesh had to pay an application fee and another fee to have a job interview! Talk about participating in your own exploitation. How to get around such a practice?
(When I was in Turkey we had to list photos and age on our CV, which is also participating in your own exploitation as I think on it now...)
P. 206 - 207
The Proud Cherokee!! Now I see where my mother got her 'Chief Joseph look' from!!! She would drive me crazy as a small child trying to argue with her, and all she would do was fold her arms and go 'stoney-faced' like the Cherokee women he spoke to in Oklahoma. I always knew then that 1. she was imitating her mother, my grandmother, and 2. I was not going to get another word out of her! Ok, now I see that we've got it honest...
note...
p. 16-17 waste & deception of aid
(renting gov. official-owned places ; Foreign aid budget -> employ & sell own ppl and goods...)
p. 23 aid -> dependency & 'good at negotiating for more aid'
p. 66 waste of deep tubewells: no link to end-user
p. 69 obj. to 'small farmer' 1. male issues only (wow-for a man to say or think of this is amazing!!)
2. 1/5 time = agric. so 80% of time not farming
p. 70 must diff. really poor vs. farmers
p. 71-3 defs/groups: p1 == bottom 20%, p2 ,p3 -cannot help poor & non-poor: poor "elbowed out" by less poor
p. 71 each country needs its own def. of 'poor'
p. 81 'banking untouchables'
p. 88 credit to women -> faster change
p. 91 Grameen req. women to get title to land
p. 92 wife-beating lower
p. 110 (1st pag f ch. 14) -no legal/police/ paperwork
p. 119 Grameen is shareholder/borrower owned
p. 120 TRUST; all borrowers start below poverty line
-poverty in national context
p. 142 takes ~ 2 years to find structural faults
p. 148 eng a social rev.
p 154 / 155 -micro-credit prevents terrorism
p. 157-9 natural distasters not show-stopper
p. 178 9/13 board members illiterate (borrowers)
p. 182 Turkey had non mc in 1998 [[they do now...]]]
p. 190 'charity' -> wage slavery 'can be a prison.'
p. 191 WSEP, Chicago
p. 193 credit -social change
p. 210 RESULTS (Sam Daley-Harris) & CBS 'Sixty Minutes'
chapter 27 1st page: P. 213 "The market always pushes things onto the side of the powerful."
[[but he is not at all anti-mkt...]]]
p. 215 'the dole...robs them...of self-respect'
'poverty...is created by the structures of society'
[[[but participating in it can be a vote for legitimating it... imho]]]
p. 216 -Yunus believes in competition
[[[Yunus (imho) is wrong to say 'competition is the driving...' since we've got good evidence that cooperation works even inside of competition (look at the cartels...)]]]
p. 214 social-consciousness-driven
p. 216 Yunus is right "all human beings are potential entrepreneurs."
p. 217 (accountable maximization) -Barnes would disagree with Yunus: says 2 item max. basket, since can only max. 1 thing effectively...
[[hmmm...]]
p. 219 imho cooperation more effective than compe.
p. 220 defines development via bottom 25% qualies
P. 221 GramenPhone, Grameen Shakti (Energy)
-judge a society by lowest percentile
[[as Ros quoted ...Rawls??? ... on "judge a society by how it treats it's most vulnerable" ]]
p. 224 refs David Bornstein (1996) 'The Price of a Dream'
p. 226 -'The poor work for the benefit of someone who controls the productive assets.'
-unless other help intervenes or they cooperate
P. 228 Frederiko Mayor -UNESCO
to help Grameen Shikkha (Education)
P. 232 Grameen families lower birthrates
Chapter 31 (p. 233) SELF-EMPLOY !!!
p. 234 -back to social theoretical framework
credit -> economic power -> social power
-credit as human right
P. 235 micro-econ. theory w/lbr & capital -firm leaves no self employment
p. 236 econ. denigrate 'informal sector'
p. 246 health care essential
p. 250 mkt: GrameenCheck & Flannel
[[ok, Joe was right, Yunus did create a market...]]]
p. 258 fisheries, etc; Need direction to prevent rich incr.
p. 284 Clinton nixed welfare to help the poor??
P. 285 not true: info. is restricted!!
YES!! -P. 286 1. access to a. credit b. info. c. mkts
2. no passports or visas
Read, Write, Dream, Teach !
ShiraDest
19 February, 12016 HE
founder of the Grameen Bank
On Pages 140 - 147, Dr. Yunus describes setting up the Tangail branch of Grameen bank, and how the terrorist situation made it very dangerous. In the end the presence of the bank directly contributed to the safety and lessening of terrorist activity in that province.
Elsewhere he mentions that job applicants in Bangladesh had to pay an application fee and another fee to have a job interview! Talk about participating in your own exploitation. How to get around such a practice?
(When I was in Turkey we had to list photos and age on our CV, which is also participating in your own exploitation as I think on it now...)
P. 206 - 207
The Proud Cherokee!! Now I see where my mother got her 'Chief Joseph look' from!!! She would drive me crazy as a small child trying to argue with her, and all she would do was fold her arms and go 'stoney-faced' like the Cherokee women he spoke to in Oklahoma. I always knew then that 1. she was imitating her mother, my grandmother, and 2. I was not going to get another word out of her! Ok, now I see that we've got it honest...
note...
p. 16-17 waste & deception of aid
(renting gov. official-owned places ; Foreign aid budget -> employ & sell own ppl and goods...)
p. 23 aid -> dependency & 'good at negotiating for more aid'
p. 66 waste of deep tubewells: no link to end-user
p. 69 obj. to 'small farmer' 1. male issues only (wow-for a man to say or think of this is amazing!!)
2. 1/5 time = agric. so 80% of time not farming
p. 70 must diff. really poor vs. farmers
p. 71-3 defs/groups: p1 == bottom 20%, p2 ,p3 -cannot help poor & non-poor: poor "elbowed out" by less poor
p. 71 each country needs its own def. of 'poor'
p. 81 'banking untouchables'
p. 88 credit to women -> faster change
p. 91 Grameen req. women to get title to land
p. 92 wife-beating lower
p. 110 (1st pag f ch. 14) -no legal/police/ paperwork
p. 119 Grameen is shareholder/borrower owned
p. 120 TRUST; all borrowers start below poverty line
-poverty in national context
p. 142 takes ~ 2 years to find structural faults
p. 148 eng a social rev.
p 154 / 155 -micro-credit prevents terrorism
p. 157-9 natural distasters not show-stopper
p. 178 9/13 board members illiterate (borrowers)
p. 182 Turkey had non mc in 1998 [[they do now...]]]
p. 190 'charity' -> wage slavery 'can be a prison.'
p. 191 WSEP, Chicago
p. 193 credit -social change
p. 210 RESULTS (Sam Daley-Harris) & CBS 'Sixty Minutes'
chapter 27 1st page: P. 213 "The market always pushes things onto the side of the powerful."
[[but he is not at all anti-mkt...]]]
p. 215 'the dole...robs them...of self-respect'
'poverty...is created by the structures of society'
[[[but participating in it can be a vote for legitimating it... imho]]]
p. 216 -Yunus believes in competition
[[[Yunus (imho) is wrong to say 'competition is the driving...' since we've got good evidence that cooperation works even inside of competition (look at the cartels...)]]]
p. 214 social-consciousness-driven
p. 216 Yunus is right "all human beings are potential entrepreneurs."
p. 217 (accountable maximization) -Barnes would disagree with Yunus: says 2 item max. basket, since can only max. 1 thing effectively...
[[hmmm...]]
p. 219 imho cooperation more effective than compe.
p. 220 defines development via bottom 25% qualies
P. 221 GramenPhone, Grameen Shakti (Energy)
-judge a society by lowest percentile
[[as Ros quoted ...Rawls??? ... on "judge a society by how it treats it's most vulnerable" ]]
p. 224 refs David Bornstein (1996) 'The Price of a Dream'
p. 226 -'The poor work for the benefit of someone who controls the productive assets.'
-unless other help intervenes or they cooperate
P. 228 Frederiko Mayor -UNESCO
to help Grameen Shikkha (Education)
P. 232 Grameen families lower birthrates
Chapter 31 (p. 233) SELF-EMPLOY !!!
p. 234 -back to social theoretical framework
credit -> economic power -> social power
-credit as human right
P. 235 micro-econ. theory w/lbr & capital -firm leaves no self employment
p. 236 econ. denigrate 'informal sector'
p. 246 health care essential
p. 250 mkt: GrameenCheck & Flannel
[[ok, Joe was right, Yunus did create a market...]]]
p. 258 fisheries, etc; Need direction to prevent rich incr.
p. 284 Clinton nixed welfare to help the poor??
P. 285 not true: info. is restricted!!
YES!! -P. 286 1. access to a. credit b. info. c. mkts
2. no passports or visas
Read, Write, Dream, Teach !
ShiraDest
19 February, 12016 HE
I tried to like this one. I tried to be interested in the good this man is doing. But every time I cracked open the book, I fell asleep. So I gave up.
Reading this book, I was reminded why I decided to study economics and not something else. There is just something about witnessing poverty daily that simply does not sit well with some people and they go on to do something about it. Like Muhammad Yunus.
A detailed account of the genesis and work of the Grameen Bank, Banker To The Poor will give you more insight into the lives of the poor which are, as Yunus points out, quite distant from what economic books and theories might teach us. In many ways, it reminds me of Poor Economics where Duflo and Banerjee aim to better incorporate the poor's reality into the recommendations they make. Is Grameen bank a bit naive, gullible and too dependent on assumed human goodness? Yes. Is it effective though? Also yes. Loved to read about its countless successes and the impact it had wherever the program was implemented.
A detailed account of the genesis and work of the Grameen Bank, Banker To The Poor will give you more insight into the lives of the poor which are, as Yunus points out, quite distant from what economic books and theories might teach us. In many ways, it reminds me of Poor Economics where Duflo and Banerjee aim to better incorporate the poor's reality into the recommendations they make. Is Grameen bank a bit naive, gullible and too dependent on assumed human goodness? Yes. Is it effective though? Also yes. Loved to read about its countless successes and the impact it had wherever the program was implemented.